Conductive Network Of Indium Tin Oxide Nanowires And Its Application In Zinc Ion Batteries

The current energy crisis and environmental pollution problems increase the demand for large-scale energy storage system.Aqueous zinc ion battery is an ideal choice for this kind of system because of its characteristics of safe discharge process,abundant resource reserve and long service life.However,the problems such as the shedding of the cathode material and the growth of the zinc dendrite are not conducive to the realization of high performance aqueous zinc ion battery and hinder its further practical application.Considering these problems,this paper starts from the perspective of the design of the three-dimensional structure of the current collector and modifies the carbon cloth substrate by constructing a unique three-dimensional conductive network structure,which is used for the cathode and anode materials respectively,so as to enhance the performance of the aqueous zinc ion battery.The main research work is as follows:(1)Indium tin oxide nanowires(ITO NWs)arrays were grown on carbon cloth to construct a three-dimensional conductive network,which was used as a current collector for subsequent electrochemical deposition of manganese dioxide,to improve the structural stability of cathode material and improve the long cycle stability of the battery.A series of electrochemical performance tests were carried out on the prepared CC@ITO@MnO₂ electrode.The results show that the introduction of ITO NWs conductive network can enhance the stable contact between the substrate and the active material,and the ion diffusion distance is shorter,providing rapid reversible reaction kinetics and excellent cycling performance.The specific capacity of the CC@ITO@MnO₂//Zn battery prepared by matching zinc foil anode increases from 318m Ah g^-1 to 355.2 m Ah g^-1 after 190 cycles at 0.4 A g^-1.The specific capacity of 128.3m Ah g^-1 is still maintained after 2000 cycles at 4.0 A g^-1,and the retention rate is 98.4%compared with the initial capacity of 130.3 m Ah g^-1.At the same time,the co-insertion mechanism of Zn²⁺and H⁺is confirmed by a series of characterization of electrodes in different charging and discharging states.(2)ITO NWs were grown on carbon cloth to construct a three-dimensional conductive network,which was used as a current collector electrochemical deposition of zinc anode,which can reduce the nucleation overpotential of zinc,promote the uniform reversible plating/stripping of zinc,effectively inhibit the formation of zinc dendrite,and improve the cycle stability of the battery.Electrochemical test results show that the CC@ITO@Zn//CC@ITO@Zn symmetrical battery can maintain relatively stable voltage hysteresis within 550 h at 0.5 m A cm^-2.The CC@ITO@MnO₂//CC@ITO@Zn full cell assembled based on modified zinc anode still remains After 400 cycles at low current density of 2.0 A g^-1,the full cell still retains the capacity of 167.7 m Ah g^-1,with a retention rate of 82.3%.After 1500 cycles at a high current density of 4.0 A g^-1,the retention rate is 83.8%compared with the initial capacity of 134.9 m Ah g^-1,showing excellent cycling stability.In conclusion,by growing ITO NWs on carbon cloth to construct the three-dimensional conductive network and using it as the current collector for cathode and anode materials,respectively,the formation of zinc dendrite can be effectively suppressed and the long cycle stability of batteries can be improved.This work may provide new ideas for further research on other cathode materials for zinc ion batteries and the development of next-generation anode materials.