Flower-Like Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) Transition Metal Sulphide (TMS) as a Micro-Structured Electrode in Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

Rechargeable lithium batteries exhibit the advantages of high energy density with a broad range of potential applications, from portable electronics to highly energy-demanding electric vehicles. Recently, transition metal sulphides (TMS) have been regarded as a promising candidate for a microstructure electrode in electrochemical energy storage devices because it has a higher theoretical capacity (∼847 mAh g−1) compared to a commercial lithium-ion battery (LIB) (∼372 mAh g−1). Thus, this work aims to explore the capacity performance and cycling stabilities of the transition metal sulphide, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) microstructure electrode using galvanostatic technique. The CZTS was synthesised via the sol-gel method followed by sulphurisation at 550 °C under nitrogen atmosphere. The structural analysis showed that the CZTS nanoflower took on morphology of kesterite phase and possessed an average chemical stoichiometric composition of Cu2.2Zn1.9Sn1.5S4. The as-prepared CZTS-Li half-cell configuration exhibited high reversible capacity but lack in cycling performance at room temperature under a potential window from 3.0 to 0.01 V (vs. Li+/Li). The achieved initial discharge capacity is obtained at ∼578.89 mAh g−1, which suggests that the kesterite CZTS can be a promising electrode material for rechargeable lithium-CZTS batteries.