title: Co(II)1-xCo(0)x/3Mn(III)2x/3S Nanoparticles Supported on B/N-Codoped Mesoporous Nanocarbon as a Bifunctional Electrocatalyst of Oxygen Reduction/Evolution for High-Performance Zinc-Air Batteries.
abstract: Rechargeable Zn-air battery is an ideal type of energy storage device due to its high energy and power density, high safety, and economic viability. Its large-scale application rests upon the availability of active, durable, low-cost electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the discharge process and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in the charge process. Herein we developed a novel ORR/OER bifunctional electrocatalyst for rechargeable Zn-air batteries based on the codoping and hybridization strategies. The B/N-codoped mesoporous nanocarbon supported Co(II)1-xCo(0)x/3Mn(III)2x/3S nanoparticles exhibit a superior OER performance compared to that of IrO2 catalyst and comparable Zn-air battery performance to that of the Pt-based battery. The rechargeable Zn-air battery shows high discharge peak power density (over 250 mW cm(-2)) and current density (180 mA cm(-2) at 1 V), specific capacity (∼550 mAh g(-1)), small charge-discharge voltage gap of ∼0.72 V at 20 mA cm(-2) and even higher stability than the Pt-based battery. The advanced performance of the bifunctional catalysts highlights the beneficial role of the simultaneous formation of Mn(III) and Co(0) as well as the dispersed hybridization with the codoped nanocarbon support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Zilong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Yiming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University , Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Xihong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University , Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Yexiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Shihe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: bifunctional catalyst; mesoporous nanocarbon; metallic cobalt; oxygen reduction and evolution; zinc-air battery