Optimised synthesis of close packed ZnO cloth and its applications in Li-ion batteries and dye-sensitized solar cells

Close packed ZnO nanoparticles on carbon cloth were synthesized by repeating a facile hydrothermal route in this study. After characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the obtained ZnO cloth was further studied for the applications in lithium (Li)-ion batteries (LIBs) and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). When ZnO cloth annealed at 400°C for 2 h were used as anodes of LIBs, it exhibited high capacity of 600 mAh/g and outstanding cycling capability without significant fading after 130 cycles. Moreover, it was also found that our electrodes displayed good stabilities under various humidity and temperature. Furthermore, the obtained composites were calcined at higher temperature (800°C) to remove carbon and white pure ZnO cloth was formed. We transferred the as-formed ZnO cloth to fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate to make DSSCs, exhibiting an improved efficiency of around 0.38% assisted by TiCl₄ treatment.