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Vol. 13 (2021)

Engineering Two-Phase Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysts with Tunable and Synergetic Components for Flexible Zn–Air Batteries

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-021-00650-2
Yanli Niu
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China
Xue Teng
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China
Shuaiqi Gong
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China
Mingze Xu
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China
Shi‑Gang Sun
State Key Lab of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surface, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People’s Republic of China
Zuofeng Chen
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Zuofeng Chen

zfchen@tongji.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 13 (2021), Article Number: 126

Abstract

Metal–air batteries, like Zn–air batteries (ZABs) are usually suffered from low energy conversion efficiency and poor cyclability caused by the sluggish OER and ORR at the air cathode. Herein, a novel bimetallic Co/CoFe nanomaterial supported on nanoflower-like N-doped graphitic carbon (NC) was prepared through a strategy of coordination construction–cation exchange-pyrolysis and used as a highly efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst. Experimental characterizations and density functional theory calculations reveal the formation of Co/CoFe heterostructure and synergistic effect between metal layer and NC support, leading to improved electric conductivity, accelerated reaction kinetics, and optimized adsorption energy for intermediates of ORR and OER. The Co/CoFe@NC exhibits high bifunctional activities with a remarkably small potential gap of 0.70 V between the half-wave potential (E1/2) of ORR and the potential at 10 mA cm‒2 (Ej=10) of OER. The aqueous ZAB constructed using this air electrode exhibits a slight voltage loss of only 60 mV after 550-cycle test (360 h, 15 days). A sodium polyacrylate (PANa)-based hydrogel electrolyte was synthesized with strong water-retention capability and high ionic conductivity. The quasi-solid-state ZAB by integrating the Co/CoFe@NC air electrode and PANa hydrogel electrolyte demonstrates excellent mechanical stability and cyclability under different bending states.


Highlights:


1 A novel heterostructured bimetallic Co/CoFe nanomaterial supported on nanoflower-like N-doped graphitic carbon (NC) is prepared through a strategy of coordination construction-cation exchange-pyrolysis.
2 The Co/CoFe@NC exhibits high bifunctional activities with a remarkably small potential gap of 0.70 V between oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which can be used in liquid and flexible quasi-solid-state rechargeable Zn–air batteries.
3 The density functional theory calculations reveal optimized adsorption energies for intermediates of ORR and OER on heterostructured Co/CoFe@NC.

Keywords

Bifunctional electrocatalysts Oxygen electrocatalysis Zn–air battery Co/CoFe heterointerface engineering Density functional theory calculations
Niu, Yanli, Xue Teng, Shuaiqi Gong, Mingze Xu, Shi‑Gang Sun, and Zuofeng Chen. 2021. “Engineering Two-Phase Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysts With Tunable and Synergetic Components for Flexible Zn–Air Batteries”. Nano-Micro Letters 13 (May):126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-021-00650-2.
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