Zinc oxide nanotubes for high-performance lithium-ion battery anodes: experimental insights from computational results

Abstract

In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanotubes were simulated and calculated to get their bandgap and density of states to predict their performance as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. With the insight of reducing the band gap by nanomaterialisation to improve the performance, ZnO nanotubes were fabricated with hydrothermal reaction. We tested its performance after 100 cycles and confirmed that nanotubes are better than bulk ZnO in many regards, including electron conductivity, bandgap, coulomb efficiency, cyclic stability. An excellent reversible capacity of 861 mAh g-1 was achieved after 100 cycles at 0.5 mA g-1. Compared with ZnO bulk, nanotubes show better stability and higher coulomb efficiency.