Zinc-nickel Battery Research Articles

Modeling and Simulation of Single Flow Zinc–Nickel Redox Battery Coupled with Multi-Physics Fields

Metallic zinc (Zn) presents a compelling alternative to conventional electrochemical energy storage systems due to its environmentally friendly nature, abundant availability, high water compatibility, low toxicity, low electrochemical potential (−0.762 V vs. SHE), and cost-effectiveness. While considerable efforts have been devoted to enhancing the physical and chemical properties of zinc-ion battery materials to improve battery efficiency and longevity, research on multi-physics coupled modeling for a deeper understanding of battery performance remains relatively scarce. In this study, we established a comprehensive two-dimensional model for single-flow zinc–nickel redox batteries to investigate electrode reactions, current-potential behaviors, and concentration distributions, leveraging theories such as Nernst–Planck and Butler–Volmer. Additionally, we explored the distribution of the velocity field using the Brinkman theory in porous media and the Navier–Stokes equations in free-flow channels. The validated model, informed by experimental data, not only provides insights into the performance of the battery, but also offers valuable recommendations for advancing single-flow zinc–nickel battery technology. Our findings offer promising avenues for enhancing the design and performance of not only zinc–nickel flow batteries, but also applicable for other flow battery designs.

Football-like ZnO@TiC as the active material of zinc anode with excellent structural stability and long cycling performance

Alkaline zinc-nickel batteries are not properly exploited for their high-current charge and discharge characteristics that are caused by the corrosion, deformation and poor conductivity of zinc oxide for the anode. In this work, we synthesize a ZnO@TiC composite with a football-like structure. The incorporation of TiC enables the better electrical conductivity and structural stability, which reduces the agglomeration of active materials and the deformation of the electrode. Simultaneously, the discharge specific capacity of ZnO@TiC electrode reaches 520 mAh·g−1 after 1500 cycles at 6C, with a capacity retention rate of 94.5 %. Subsequently, the TiC has been introduced as an additive to the anode to test the performance in commercial 2 A zinc-nickel batteries. The results demonstrate that a moderate amount of TiC can extend the cycle life of the battery by about 50 %. This work provides a novel idea for the protection of zinc-nickel battery anodes.

Stabilizing zinc anodes for long-lifespan zinc–nickel battery through the in-situ construction of zincophilic interface layer

Zinc–nickel batteries are identified as one of the ideal next-generation energy storage technologies because of the advantages of high safety, low cost, and excellent rate performance. However, the limited reversibility of zinc electrode caused by dendrites growth, shape change and side reactions results in poor shelf life and cycling life. To overcome these limitations, a dense and uniform ZnS coating layer is in-situ constructed on ZnO surface to improve the stability of ZnO anode. Charge migration and redistribution occur at the interface of ZnO and ZnS, and an electric field is built, which promotes the charge transfer, enabling the anode with improved reversibility and reactivity. In addition, the ZnS layer protects active zinc from bulk electrolyte, inhibiting side reactions. Moreover, the zincophilic ZnS film regulates the Zn(OH)42− ions concentration gradient and harmonizes the ions migration, mitigating the shape change and dendrites growth. These features endow the ZnO@ZnS350 electrode with stable stripping/plating cycling behavior during 1000 h at 17 mA cm−2. Furthermore, the assembled zinc–nickel battery displayed an improved storage life and a significantly extended cycling life of higher than 790 h even at a high current of 10 A (∼138 mA cm−2) and higher than 690 h at 20 A (∼276 mA cm−2), which was largely longer than that based on ZnO electrodes, demonstrating great promise in practical applications.

Mesoporous Ti4O7 Spheres with Enhanced Zinc-Anchoring Effect for High-Performance Zinc-Nickel Batteries.

Zinc-nickel batteries are promising competitors for next-generation power supply due to their benefits of high safety, high working voltage, and attractive rate performance. However, their practical applications are plagued by their poor cycling performance, stemming from uneven redistribution of zinc during cycling that results in dendrite formation and shape changes of the electrode. In this work, mesoporous Ti4O7 microspheres are prepared and are employed as additives of a zinc anode. Notably, the presence of mesopores provides abundant chemisorption sites for Zn(OH)42- ions, inhibiting severe zinc redistribution in the electrode. Moreover, due to the good electrical conductivity and mesopores that serve as ion diffusion channels, the reaction reactivity and reversibility of the zinc electrode are greatly facilitated. As a result, the fabricated zinc-nickel battery with mesoporous Ti4O7 additives (ms-Ti4O7) exhibits an enhanced discharge capacity and a significantly prolonged cycling life. Even at a current of 10 A (∼138 mA cm-2), the ms-Ti4O7-modified anode demonstrates stable operation for longer than 718 h (700 cycles) with a discharge voltage of 1.2 V, which is much longer than those of a ZnO anode (192 h, 117 cycles) and a Ti4O7-particle (p-Ti4O7)-modified battery (590 h, 443 cycles). Furthermore, due to the anchoring effect for Zn(OH)42- and the uniform electric field, the effect of mesoporous Ti4O7 on inhibiting dendrite formation and shape change of the zinc electrode is highlighted.

Facile synthesis of uniformly coated ZnO@Bi2O3 composites anode for long-cycle-life zinc–nickel battery

Zinc–nickel battery attracts much attention because of their excellent rate performance and high operating voltage. However, their applications are strongly restricted by the poor cycling performance, which is caused by the degradation of the zinc anode during battery cycling. To overcome such limitation, a facile strategy to prepare homogeneously Bi2O3 coated ZnO composites is proposed. The reaction is conducted in the liquid phase based on redox reaction of Bi3+ and I− to directly grow BiOI on commercial ZnO powders, which are then converted to ZnO@Bi2O3 by further heat treatment. Benefiting from the uniform Bi2O3 coating, the solubility of ZnO is effectively reduced. The well-connected metallic Bi network is formed, which serves as the conductive substrate for uniform zinc deposition and hence inhibits the dendrites growth. The assembled zinc–nickel battery based on ZnO@Bi2O3 composites exhibits significantly prolonged cycling life. Even under a high discharge current of 10 A (~ 138 mA cm−2), the battery can keep cycling during 400 cycles with discharge voltage higher than 1.1 V, which is extended by 3 and 1.7 times compared with that of electrodes based on pure ZnO and physical mixture of Bi2O3 and ZnO. This work provides a facile strategy for synthesizing uniformly Bi2O3 coated ZnO composites, which is helpful for large-scale synthesis of high-performance zinc anodes in practical application.

Effect of synthesis temperature on Al-substitued α-Ni (OH)2 as Cathode Material for zinc-nickel battery

Effect of synthesis temperature on Al-substitued α-Ni (OH)2 as Cathode Material for zinc-nickel battery

Research on equilibrium strategy and emergency management of three oligarch battery manufacturers under cooperative promotion and low-carbon policy

People are increasingly paying much attention to battery technology, especially the zinc-nickel battery and the lithium battery, for solving energy shortages and environmental contamination. Meanwhile, the drastic change in the external outside environment has brought a huge challenge to manage the battery industry chain. Therefore, in the uncertain external environment, the study of supply chain competition between lithium battery and new nickel battery manufacturers is the focus of this paper. We build a cooperative game model under the demand disturbance and a non-cooperative game under the background of product promotion. The results show that (i) the price set by the manufacturer increases with technical improvement when consumers are more sensitive to the technical level. (ii) The optimal price of all manufacturers will drop as the CETRC (carbon emission technology renewal coefficient) increases. (iii) The price of zinc-nickel batteries will be higher than that of lithium battery as the market promotion rate is in the middle range. In the model, the supply chain determines different optimal prices according to the different ranges of the demand disturbance.

Joint Estimation of SOC and SOH for Single-Flow Zinc–Nickel Batteries

The single-flow zinc–nickel battery (ZNB) is a new type of flow battery with a simple structure, large-scale energy storage, and low cost, and thus has attracted much attention in the battery field recently. The state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH) are key indicators of the battery, and their inaccurate estimation can damage the battery. However, little has been done so far to study how to jointly estimate SOC and SOH for the ZNB. In this paper, the method of adaptive IDUKF is proposed. A second-order equivalent circuit model is applied to improve the accuracy. At the same time, the double unscented Kalman filter (DUKF), which is optimized by the improved Harris hawk optimization (IHHO) algorithm, is used to estimate the SOC and parameters online. Then, the capacity update model is introduced to simulate the change in SOH. Finally, the proposed method is applied to a 16 Ah ZNB, and the experimental results confirm the validity of the proposed method.

Ti4O7 regulating both Zn(OH)42– and electrons for improving Zn–Ni batteries

Zn–Ni battery is prospective green energy storage device. However, Zn(OH)42–, the dissolved product of ZnO in the electrolyte, redistributes during the cycle, leading to the shape changing of the anode. This issue severely limits the lifespan of zinc anodes. Despite the success in improving the electrochemical performances of zinc anode via adding Ti4O7 additive, the important mechanism of such modified anode has not been well understood. In addition, the aluminothermic reduction is facile and energy-saving. But the application of Ti4O7 synthesized by this method in Zn–Ni batteries has not been studied. Herein, Ti4O7 synthesized by facile and rapid aluminothermic reduction was applied to alkaline zinc anode. In subsequent electrochemical tests, the discharge capacity and cyclic performance of the zinc-nickel battery was significantly improved by adding as-prepared Ti4O7 particles. At a high discharge current of 2.5 A (34.54 mA cm−2), the anode modified by Ti4O7 delivered higher discharge capacity of 364 mAh g−1, in contrast to the 283 mAh g−1 of pristine anode. Even at ultra-high discharge current of 10 A (138.16 mA cm−2), the battery operated stably for 480 cycles. Besides, the mechanism of Ti4O7 modifying anode was studied in-depth by a variety of characterizations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We discovered that Ti4O7 simultaneously regulates the distribution of electrons on the anode and Zn(OH)42– in the electrolyte, contributing to forming uniform zinc anode during cycling.

Dynamic Evolution of the Zinc-Nickel Battery Industry and Evidence from China

This paper analyzes the development prospects of zinc-nickel battery industry, further investigates the industry competition in existing markets by mathematical modeling, calculates the equilibrium price and profit of the oligarch competition by using the method of Stackelberg equilibrium and Nash equilibrium, and makes a comparison between them. Then, we study and model the case of renting and selling simultaneously. In addition, we also study the impact of futures prices on the zinc-nickel battery companies and carry out numerical simulation. At the end of this paper, we analyze the location of zinc-nickel battery enterprises and the industry development under the COVID-19 pandemic. The finding show that the reduction of raw material cost is of great help to the development of the zinc-nickel battery industry.

Effect of K2SnO3 in Electrolyte on the Property of Single-Flow Zinc-Nickel Battery

Effect of K2SnO3 in Electrolyte on the Property of Single-Flow Zinc-Nickel Battery

Constructing aqueous Zn//Ni hybrid battery with NiSe nanorod array on nickel foam and redox electrolytes for high-performance electrochemical energy storage

Aqueous rechargeable zinc-nickel (Zn//Ni) batteries have attracted a lot of attention because of their advantages such as high operating voltage, low cost and safety. However, the relatively low energy density, power density and stability delay its practical application. Here, NiSe single crystal nanorod array was prepared in situ on nickel foam with a simple hydrothermal method. The NiSe-12 h sample showed a higher areal specific capacity due to its high conductivity and a consistent hexagonal phase NiSe nanorod array structure to effectively expose the active substance and accelerate the reaction kinetics process. The NiSe//Zn-KFC hybrid battery was constructed based on the solid Faraday redox reaction of the NiSe-12 h electrode itself and its electrocatalysis on potassium ferricyanide. Compared with the conventional NiSe//Zn-U battery, the NiSe//Zn-KFC hybrid battery showed higher energy density (2.26 mWh/cm2 vs. 1.22 mWh/cm2), peak power density (95.93 mW/cm2 vs. 76.01 mW/cm2), cycle stability (capacity retention rate 80.89% vs. 64.75% after 1300 cycles) and rate performance under the same test conditions. The construction of this aqueous Zn-Ni hybrid concept battery opened a bright window for the development of high-performance aqueous rechargeable zinc-nickel battery.

Flower-like Zn-Al-In layered double oxides synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method as ultra-high cycle stability anodic for zinc-nickel battery

Extensive scale commercial application of zinc nickel battery is limited for its poor cycle stability. In this paper, a zinc anodic material with ultra-high cycle stability is explored by structural design and element doping of Zn-Al layered double oxides (Zn-Al LDO). Flower-like Zn-Al-In LDO and pure Zn-Al LDO are synthesized by facile hydrothermal and calcination methods. Compared with pure Zn-Al LDO，Flower-like structure provides more pores to promote the electrolyte penetration and effectively reduce the local current density. The indium additive with high hydrogen evolution overpotential in Zn-Al LDO inhibits the corrosion of zinc electrode in high concentration alkaline solution. After a series of electrochemical tests, Zn-Al-In LDO has the lowest redox voltage (0.448 V vs. Hg/HgO) and lower charge transfer resistance (1.053 Ω). Meanwhile, compared with pure Zn-Al LDO, the corrosion potential and corrosion current of Zn-Al-In LDO are significantly reduced to (−1.372 V) and (−0.01458 mA cm−2) and the capacity retention rate of flower-like Zn-Al-In LDO is always above 90% within 2000 cycles. The rational design of flower-like Zn-Al-In LDO microsphere electrode paves new ways to develop the high-performance of zinc-nickel secondary batteries.

ZnO@Ag microspheres used as the anodic materials of superior alkaline rechargeable Zn–Ni batteries

Alkaline zinc-nickel batteries have attracted the attention of many researchers because of their safety, environmental friendliness and low cost. However, the low utilization rate of active substances and poor conductivity lead to the decrease of battery capacity and poor cycling stability, which hinder its further development. Herein, an excellent cyclic stability zinc-nickel battery system with a ZnO@Ag microspheres anode has been developed. The ZnO@Ag microspheres deliver a high specific capacity over 620 mAh g−1 at 1C and of 94.08% coulombic efficiency before 700 cycles. The hydrothermal reaction time and the optimum amount of silver are also studied. This study demonstrates that the ZnO@Ag microsphere is emerging as a promising anodic material for the high-potential rechargeable aqueous zinc-nickel battery, and it may shed light on the high-performance anodic material for zinc-nickel battery storage devices.

Pore-scale simulation of internal reaction mechanism of positive electrode for zinc-nickel single-flow battery

According to the structure and working characteristics of zinc-nickel single-flow battery stack cell, this paper proposes a pore-size analysis model for internal mass transfer and chemical reaction of positive electrode to describe liquid-phase mass transfer, solid-phase mass transfer, and electrochemical reaction. The lattice Boltzmann method was used to simulate the steady-state reaction under constant current charging. The distribution of the concentration of liquid-phase reaction ions, the proton concentration of the solid phase, and the reaction current density were determined. The influence of electrolyte flow velocity and constant current charge-current density on the electrode reaction was further explored.

Application and prospect of zinc nickel battery in energy storage technology

Application and prospect of zinc nickel battery in energy storage technology

Optimization analysis of the internal structure of flow-assisted zinc-nickel battery driven by a propeller

This study established a three-dimensional analysis model of the internal flow field of the battery stack with a rotating propeller by using the flow-assisted zinc-nickel battery stack driven by a propeller. The flow of electrolyte in the battery stack was simulated and analyzed. The key design parameters of the battery stack were analyzed and optimized by adjusting the baffle and blade heights, blade speed, and blade number based on the uniformity of the internal flow field of the battery stack. The final simulation results show that the flow field distribution is the most uniform when the baffle and blade are 100 and 140 mm, respectively; from the top of the battery stack, the number of blades is five leaves, and the speed is 600 r/min. This article serves as the basis for the structural design of flow-assisted zinc-nickel battery driven by a propeller.

Effect of Stannum Ion on the Enhancement of the Charge Retention of Single-Flow Zinc–Nickel Battery

This study aims to discuss the effect of stannum ion (potassium stannate) in alkaline zincate solution on the deposition/dissolution behavior of zinc anode for single-flow zinc–nickel battery (SFZNB). Physical analysis is conducted using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) technologies. The electrochemical performance of the battery is tested using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic techniques. Results show that adding potassium stannate in alkaline solution promotes crystal seed formation and grain growth and substantially improves the charge retention of the battery. The battery is charged to 18.75 mAh·cm−2 (based on the area of the electrode) at current density of 10 mA·cm−2 and set aside for 12 h. Then, the battery using electrolyte with 0.1 mol·L−1 potassium stannate has a discharge capacity of 15.20 mAh·cm−2 (coulomb efficiency of 81.1%). Moreover, the control sample has a discharge capacity of 11.25 mAh·cm−2 (coulomb efficiency of 60.0%). Thus, the present work provides a simple approach to restrain the SFZNB from self-discharge.

Synthesis of Hollow Spherical Zinc-Aluminum Hydrotalcite and Its Application as Zinc Anode Material

A simple urea hydrothermal method was used to synthesize hollow spherical zinc-aluminum hydrotalcites (ZAL-H) with the particle size of about 6.7–9.8 μm. The studies on different synthetic conditions have shown that the amount of urea and the type of solution system play important roles on the morphology and particle size of ZAL-H. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicate that the material has characteristic diffraction peaks of zinc-aluminum hydrotalcite. The specific surface area and pore size analysis (BET) indicate that the material has a uniform and narrow distribution of pore diameter of 3.682 nm and a specific surface area of 49.09 m2 g−1. As negative electrode material for zinc-nickel battery, the ZAL-H electrode exhibits a significantly enhanced discharge specific capacity compared to most previously reported electrodes based on zinc-aluminum hydroxides. The average discharge special capacity is 393.342 mAh g−1 during the whole charge/discharge process (1050 cycles), the discharge efficiency is up to 97.34%, and the capacity retention rate is as high as 95.37%. Therefore, the ZAL-H is an excellent electrode active material and can be potentially applied to the energy storage/conversion devices.

Three-electrode flexible zinc-nickel battery with black phosphorus modified polymer electrolyte

Secondary flexible zinc-nickel battery was fabricated with the polyvinyl acetate (PVA) gel-polymer electrolyte which containing the black phosphorus (BP). And for the first time, the three electrode system was introduced in the electrochemical analysis for quasi-solid flexible zinc-nickel battery. The BP modified polymer electrolyte has an interpenetrating network structure where PVA works as polymer matrix and BP as Zn(OH)42− barrier. With the three electrode cell system, tests of Tafel and charge-discharge for the flexible zinc anodes were carried. The results show that the BP in the electrolyte membrane can suppress zinc corrosion and hydrogen evolution reaction. The BP@PVA polymer electrolyte significantly improved the specific discharge capacity and cycle performance of the battery. The flexible zinc-nickel battery with PVA@BP electrolyte shows the high initial discharge capacity of 509.8 mA h g−1 and retains 212.8 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles.