Novel Hydrogel-Derived Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalyst for Rechargeable Air Cathodes.
The commercialization of Zn-air batteries has been impeded by the lack of low-cost, highly active, and durable catalysts that act independently for oxygen electrochemical reduction and evolution. Here, we demonstrate excellent performance of NiCo nanoparticles anchored on porous fibrous carbon aerogels (NiCo/PFC aerogels) as bifunctional catalysts toward the Zn-air battery. This material is designed and synthesized by a novel K2Ni(CN)4/K3Co(CN)6-chitosan hydrogel-derived method. The outstanding performance of NiCo/PFC aerogels is confirmed as a superior air-cathode catalyst for a rechargeable Zn-air battery. At a discharge-charge current density of 10 mA cm-2, the NiCo/PFC aerogels enable a Zn-air battery to cycle steadily up to 300 cycles for 600 h with only a small increase in the round-trip overpotential, notably outperforming the more costly Pt/C+IrO2mixture catalysts (60 cycles for 120 h). With the simplicity of the synthetic method and the outstanding electrocatalytic performance, the NiCo/PFC aerogels are promising electrocatalysts for Zn-air batteries.
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, China.|Materials Science and Engineering Program & Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Gengtao
G
Fu
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, China.
Yifan
Y
Chen
Materials Science and Engineering Program & Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Zhiming
Z
Cui
Materials Science and Engineering Program & Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Yutao
Y
Li
Materials Science and Engineering Program & Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Weidong
W
Zhou
Materials Science and Engineering Program & Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Sen
S
Xin
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, China.
Yawen
Y
Tang
Materials Science and Engineering Program & Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
John B
JB
Goodenough
K2Ni(CN)4/K3Co(CN)6-chitosan hydrogel; NiCo alloy; Zn−air battery; bifunctional electrocatalyst; fibrous carbon aerogels