@article{Ma2025, 
author = {Xiaohong Ma and Maokuan Guo and Xiaocheng Chen and Xuguang Liu and Jun Lu},
title = {Photo-driven rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries based on NiCo-layered double hydroxide nano composite cathodes},
year = {2025},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {18},
number = {6},
pages = {94907419},
keywords = {solar energy, NiCo-layered double hydroxide, heterostructure photocathode, photo-driven rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries (AZBs)},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94907419},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94907419},
abstract = {Photo-rechargeable batteries based on photocathodes that have the dual function of collecting and storing solar energy offer an efficient method for solar energy utilization. Herein, NiCo-layered double hydroxides (NiCo-LDH)/ZnIn2S4/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (recorded as CZN), a heterostructure photocathode, has been synthesized by layer-by-layer growth for photo-driven rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries (AZBs). The proposed photocathode exhibits typical photoelectric properties and offers the following advantages: good photoresponse in the visible light range, energy level/potential matching between ZnIn2S4 and NiCo-LDH, and the conductive network formed by CNTs to promote charge transfer. The photo-driven rechargeable AZBs can harvest solar energy and store charge simultaneously, showing enhanced energy storage capability under illumination. The discharge capacity reaches 274.8 mAh·g−1 with a high photo-conversion efficiency of 1.120% at 8.0 A·g−1 (100 mW·cm−2, white light). In particular, the photo-driven rechargeable AZBs can be charged by light solely, achieving a discharge capacity of 116.3 mAh·g−1. This study shows that the novel design and synthesis of the heterostructure photocathode is crucial and significant to enhancing the practicality of solar energy.}
}