Titanium dioxide coating-modified zinc cathode and its application in aqueous zinc ion batteries

Anatase-type nanotitanium dioxide powder was prepared by the sol-gel method and coated on zinc foil to prepare a titanium dioxide coating-modified zinc cathode. The improvement effect of the coating on zinc cathode was investigated by various characterization and testing means, and the electrochemical performance of the modified zinc cathode in aqueous zinc ion batteries was evaluated. The results show that the titanium dioxide coating can induce uniform zinc deposition on the cathode, so that the Zn/Zn symmetric cell composed of the modified zinc cathode can be cycled stably for more than 500 h at a current density of 1 mA/cm². Moreover, the capacity retention rate of the Zn/MnO₂ full cell assembled with the modified zinc cathode is 82.53% after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g, which is significantly better than that of the Zn/MnO₂ full cell assembled with an unmodified zinc cathode.