Improved Electrochemical Performance Using Transition Metal Doped ZnNi/Carbon Nanotubes as Conductive Additive in Li/CFx Battery

Lithium/carbon fluoride (Li/CFx) batteries are promising for specialized applications due to their high theoretical capacity (>865 mAh·g−1) and energy density. However, their practical deployment is hindered by the intrinsically low conductivity of CFx and sluggish reaction kinetics. While conventional conductive additives improve electron transport, their physical mixing with active materials yields weak interfacial contacts and fails to catalytically facilitate C–F bond cleavage. To address these dual limitations, this study proposes a dual-functional conductive-catalytic additive strategy. We engineered zinc-nickel/carbon nanotube (ZnNi/CNT) composites modified with transition metal dopants (Fe, W, Cu) to integrate conductive networks with nanoscale-dispersed catalytic sites. Fe-doped ZnNi/CNT (ZnFeNiC) emerged as the optimal system, delivering a discharge plateau of 2.45 V and a specific capacity of 810.3 mAh·g−1 at 0.1 C. This performance is attributed to Fe-doping accelerates Li+ diffusion, and promotes reversible Ni redox transitions (Ni2+↔Ni0) that catalyze C–F bond dissociation. This work establishes a design paradigm for high-performance Li/CFx batteries, bridging the gap between conductive enhancement and catalytic activation.