Electrodeposition of Zn/TiO₂ composite coatings for anode materials of Zinc ion battery

Abstract

Researchers are paying more attention to Zinc ion battery (ZIB) because of the environment-friendly and low cost. However, the dendrite growth during cycling of Zn anode is still limited its long-term stability. Therefore, we report the electrodeposition of nano TiO2 into Zn coatings and apply this composite coating for the anode materials of ZIBs. The Zn coatings and Zn/TiO2 composite coatings in the electrolyte have been deposited on the stainless-steel foil and applied as the battery electrode. The plating/stripping testing in the symmetric cell demonstrate that the incorporation of TiO2 into Zn coatings can decrease the overpotential between plating and stripping curves. In addition, nano flower MnO2 as the cathode was synthesized by using hydrothermal method. The galvanostatic charge-discharge tests reveal that the Zn/TiO2//MnO2 aqueous batteries exhibit the higher rate ability and cycle performance than those of Zn//MnO2 batteries.