Drastically enhanced cycle life of Co-B alloy electrode by 8-hydroxyquinoline at elevated temperature

The effect 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) additive in electrolyte on the cyclic stability of Co-B alloy electrode was investigated at elevated temperature (55 °C). Charge–discharge measurements show that 8-HQ can drastically enhance the cycle life of Co-B alloy electrode. Specifically, in the electrolyte containing 0.028 M 8-HQ additive, the discharge capacity of Co-B alloy electrode after 100 cycles are still up to 385.8 mAh/g at 55 °C. However, for the electrode in 8-HQ-free electrolyte, its discharge capacity is sharply decreased to only 138.5 mAh/g after 100 cycles. ICP-OES, XRD and ATR/FT-IR measurements were used to clarify the reason of the improvement in the cyclic stability. These results show that beneficial effect of 8-HQ on cycle life of Co-B alloy electrode can be attributed to the formation of insoluble complex (8-HQ)2Co(II)·2H2O protective layer that can suppress the dissolution of Co(OH)2 into electrolyte at elevated temperature.