Preparation and properties of ZnO/PVA/β-CD/PEG composite electrode for rechargeable zinc anode

Beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was first ground among the single stranded linear polyethylene glycol (PEG), and then the ZnO/PVA/β-CD/PEG composite electrode was prepared by chemical crosslinking method. From the SEM diagram of the composite electrode after 80 cycles, it can be seen that the internal and surface of the electrode was distributed a large number of holes within the average diameter of 150 μm. These holes have formed the interpenetrated three-dimensional framework with the active ZnO embedded in and no dendrite formation. The results show that the discharge capacity of the composite electrode is reduced to 80% of the maximum capacity after 130 cycles, which indicates that the cycle life of the composite electrode is longer than that of the blank electrode. The results of polarization curve test shows that the maximum dissolution current of the composite electrode was increased from 60 to 280 mA·cm−2 after 80 cycles, indicating that the activity of the composite electrode was still good after 80 cycles. Compared with it, the blank electrode had few activities after 80 cycles.