Aqueous zinc secondary battery using phosphorus-substituted zinc silicate as anode

Abstract

Zinc silicate (ZS), which occurs naturally as willemite, is primarily used as a ceramic pigment and finds wide applications as a fluorescent material and in nonlinear voltage resistor devices. In recent years, ZS has been studied as a coating material for the electrode surfaces of air batteries and as a negative electrode material for Li-ion batteries. In this study, we investigated its suitability as an anode material in aqueous Zn secondary batteries. Conventional ZnO dissolves and precipitates as zincate ions in alkaline electrolytes, leading to dendritic growth and passivation. By utilizing ZS as the anode material, we observed significant improvements in cycle characteristics. Furthermore, substituting a portion of the ZS with P resulted in increased battery capacity and confirmed the reversible dissolution–precipitation reactions of Zn ions during charging and discharging.