Innovative design of dual functional polypyrrole-coated zinc cobalt sulfide nanosheets on carbon cloth as a binder-free anode of sodium-ion batteries

• Published in: Journal of energy storage Vol. 91; p. 112012
• Main Authors: Xiao, Cheng-Yu, Kubendhiran, Subbiramaniyan, Wang, Guan-Bo, Kongvarhodom, Chutima, Chen, Hung-Ming, Yougbaré, Sibidou, Saukani, Muhammad, Wu, Yung-Fu, Lin, Lu-Yin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 30.06.2024
• Subjects: Areal capacity; Long-term stability; Polypyrrole; Sodium-ion battery; Volume expansion; Zinc cobalt sulfide; Volume expansion; Sodium-ion battery; Zinc cobalt sulfide; Areal capacity; Long-term stability; Polypyrrole
• ISSN: 2352-152X; 2352-1538
• DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2024.112012

Sodium-ion battery (SIB) is attractive and cost-effective for energy storage due to the high abundance of sodium. Anodes with complex electrochemical mechanisms significantly impact the performance and safety of battery systems. In recent times, cobalt-based binary metal sulfides have received enormous attention in energy storage applications. However, high volume expansion, limited cycle life, and low initial Coulombic efficiency are major problems of SIB in a practical application perspective. Herein, a novel binder-free electrode is designed by synthesizing polypyrrole-coated zinc cobalt sulfide nanosheets on carbon cloth (PPy/ZnCoS@CC) as the anode of SIB via a hydrothermal process for the first time. The PPy coating on the ZnCoS surface is to control the volume expansion and solve the long-term stability issue. The thickness of PPy on ZnCoS is controlled by using different polymerization reaction times. The optimal PPy/ZnCoS@CC electrode demonstrates a high areal capacity of 2.33 mAh/cm2 at 0.1 mA/cm2 and retains 75% of the areal capacity after 100 cycles. The galvanic intermittent titration technique analysis is also used to measure the diffusion coefficient of anodes. This work brings a blueprint on enhancing the conducing property and control the volume expansion during the charge-discharge process by coating conductive polymer on metallic compounds. [Display omitted] •The polypyrrole-coated ZnCoS nanosheets is designed on carbon cloth (PPy/ZnCoS@CC).•Novel binder-free PPy/ZnCoS@CC electrode is used as the anode of sodium-ion battery.•Thickness of PPy on ZnCoS is controlled by varying the polymerization reaction time.•Optimal PPy/ZnCoS@CC electrode shows an areal capacity of 2.33 mAh/cm2 at 0.1 mA/cm2.•Galvanic intermittent titration technique is used to measure diffusion coefficients.