Investigation of in-situ polymerization synthesized carbon-coated zinc oxide as anode material for Zn/Ni secondary battery

Using the resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) resin as carbon source, core-shell structured carbon-coated zinc oxide ([email protected]) was synthesized by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) assisted in-situ polymerization followed with carbonization process. The results showed that the ZnO particles were uniformly coated by an amorphous carbon layer. The excellent structural stability and high electrochemical performance depend it to be designed into carbon shell with a tunable thickness up to 14.4 nm, resulting in the [email protected] anode delivers initial discharge specific capacity of 543 mAh g−1 and optimized 125 cycle life with capacity retention of 97.5% for Zn/Ni secondary batteries. And the effects of the thickness of carbon shell on electrochemical performance, corrosion and hydrogen evolution reaction are fully investigated. The results indicate that the carbon shell not only improves the electrical conductivity between ZnO particles but also increases the stability of ZnO in electrolyte.