Freestanding and binder free polypyrrole coated MnO2 based bendable electrodes for development of aqueous zinc ion pouch battery cell
摘要
In an era of modern bendable and disposable energy storage devices, pouch-based aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are highly suitable due to their facile assembly and environmentally safe characteristics. In the presented work, a successful synthesis of an LC/MnO2/PPy based tertiary composite was carried out to address the limitation of the inherent rigid structure by growth on lignocelluloses fibers (LC) and encapsulation of polypyrrole (PPy) to develop a freestanding and synthetic binder free cathodic electrode of the cell. Furthermore, Zinc and LC fiber-based electrodes have also been fabricated for the development of the anodic electrode of pouch-based AZIBS. Morphology and elemental description of prepared electrodes were studied using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy were employed for the analysis of functional groups and chemical structures of the electrode structures. MnO2 powder and LC/MnO2 exhibited good electrochemical behavior and depicted a specific discharge capacity of 128.3 mAh/g at 1.0 A/g current density. The assembled pouch cell also depicted exceptional electrochemical properties and demonstrated a power density of 1356.66 W/kg at 15.09 Wh/kg as well as excellent capacity retention of 91.4% at 0.3 A/g after 1000 cycles. The incorporation of the PPy enhanced the electrochemical behaviour of the LC/MnO2/PPy composite, as revealed by electrochemical characterizations. The presented work indicates a novel approach to fabricate the Mn-based materials and conducting polymer composites as a cathode for zinc-ion batteries.