High mass loading NiCo–OH nanothorns coated CuO nanowire arrays for high-capacity nickel–zinc battery

The rational design of cathode materials with core-shell heterostructures is significant to develop a Ni//Zn battery with both high gravimetric and areal energy density under high mass loading. In this work, the NiCo-OH nanothorns with a mass loading of 11.6 mg cm^-2were coated on CuO nanowire arrays via a chemical bath deposition method. Thanks to the construction of 3D core-shell nanowire arrays and appropriate cobalt doping, as-fabricated Ni//Zn battery based on the NiCo-OH as cathode achieved the maximum specific capacity of 383 mAh g^-1at 5 mA cm^-2with high energy density of 649 Wh kg^-1at 0.73 kW kg^-1, indicating good energy storage performance in Ni//Zn battery.