Effects of crystallite size reduction and imaginary dielectric enhancement on cuprum–zinc aqueous battery performance as a function of milling time

Cuprum–zinc alloys prepared using mechanical alloying with varied milling times is a potential candidate for aqueous battery applications. The crystallite size change was analyzed by the X-ray diffraction spectra showed for Cu from 28.03 to 7.62 nm as a result of grinding. Likewise, Zn experienced a reduction in crystallite size from 25.12 to 5.26 nm. The existing functional groups observed with FTIR showed the largest absorption values in Cu–O, C=O, and Zn–O groups, respectively. Quantitative analysis by using Kramers–Kronig shows the broadening of optical vibrational which has an impact on increasing the intensity of the \({\varepsilon }_{2}\) ${\epsilon }_2$ for all samples consistently. It was found that the combination of Cu S10 with Zn S7 as the electrode with the smallest crystallite size, the widest \(\Delta (LO-TO)\) $\mathrm{\Delta }(LO-TO)$ , reduced d-spacing change, and highest \({\varepsilon }_{2}\) ${\epsilon }_2$ showed promising average voltage stability as a secondary battery with 0.86 V and 1.87 mA.