ZnO@SnO2 Micron Flower as an Anode Material to Enhance the Cycling Performance of Zinc–Nickel Secondary Batteries

ZnO@SnO2 micron flowers with loose and porous surfaces are obtained by a one-step hydrothermal process. This flower-like structure of stacked sheets expands the contact area for electrode reaction and reduces the current density, which helps to suppress polarization. In addition, Sn increases the electrical conductivity of the material and hydrogen evolution overpotential of the electrode, resulting in a great improvement in the utilization of the anodic material. The design of this anode composite can effectively solve the problems of short cycle life and poor cycle performance of zinc-based batteries to a certain extent. According to this study, the ZnO@SnO2 electrode is still able to achieve a discharge specific capacity of 539 mAh·g–1 after 1000 cycles, which is 92.3% of the initial discharge specific capacity (584 mAh·g–1). Flower-like ZnO@SnO2 has excellent cycling performance at high rates as an anodic material for zinc–nickel secondary batteries.