SIGNIFICANT ENHANCEMENT OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL PERFORMANCE OF NIZN BATTERIES BY FABRICATING GRAPHENE ZNO COMPOSITES ELECTRODE

The secondary nickel zinc batteries have advantages of high specific energy,high specific power and low cost. Nevertheless, due to the high solubility of zinc electrode in alkaline electrolyte, the performance of the secondary zinc batteries are poor, which limits its extensive commercialization. Monolayer graphene has many advantages. Such as high specific surface area, super conductivity and strengh. Its application in nickel zinc battery significantly improved the cycle life and discharge capacity of the Ni-Zn battery. Synthesis of graphene-ZnO composites by hydrothermal method at 80℃ for 4 hours.The dimension of the filled Zinc Oxide ranged from 70nm to 100nm and had good crystallizationThe electrochemical properties of graphene-ZnO composites as anode active materials for Ni/Zn batteries were tested by galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling. It showed excellent performance in cycle stability and the discharge capacity maintained at a high level. The TEM examinations on the material found that the ZnO was loaded on the graphene well Increased specific surface area and the interaction between the two forces, which leaded to the improvement of performance of Ni/Zn secondary cells.