Speaker
Description
Sodium-ion batteries are a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries. They use sodium, which is less expensive than lithium. However, developing high-capacity, stable anode materials is challenging. Zinc oxide (ZnO) has a wurtzite structure and a high theoretical capacity, but it exhibits poor conductivity during charge/discharge cycles and undergoes fast degradation. However, his ZnO nanoparticles functionalized with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are promising anodes for sodium-ion batteries¹. The aim of our study is to investigate the role of rGO in improving the electrochemical parameters of ZnO and enhancing its performance as an anode in sodium-ion cells.
The electrochemical performance of ZnO/rGO composite electrodes was examined using sodium half cells with a standard electrolyte of 1 M NaPF6 in PC. Cycling voltammetry was recorded at different speeds ranging from 1 mV/s to 0.1 mV/s to determine redox reactions. The results show that the rGO/ZnO composite outperforms the individual ZnO component in terms of cycling stability and rate capability. Thus, our study emphasizes the importance of the synergistic effect between rGO and ZnO in enhancing the structural integrity and charge-transport kinetics of anode materials for sodium-ion batteries.
Keywords: ZnO, rGO, anodes for sodium-ion battery
Acknowledgments:
This work was supported by the infrastructure of the 'National Center of Excellence Mechatronics and Clean Technologies' contract (BG16RFPR002-1.014-0006) under the 'Research, Innovation and Digitization for Smart Transformation' program 2021–2027. We thank Robert Feher (Graphit Kropfmühl GmbH, Germany) for providing the rGO additive. N. Kaneva thanks the Bulgarian National Science Fund (BNSF) for the full financial support provided under project КП-06-Н89/07.
References:
[1] Liu, J., He, Z., Zhao, T., Wei, J., Hou,I., Song, Y., Wang, Y., Chemical Engineering Journal, 500, 2024, 157389, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.157389.