Cobalt vanadate nanoparticles as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for rechargeable seawater batteries

Herein, we report synthesis of Co3V2O8 nanoparticles for an electrocatalyst of seawater batteries. The cell using Co3V2O8 achieves a higher voltage efficiency of similar to 76% than similar to 72% of the cell without catalyst. In addition, the Co3V2O8 shows a good rate capability with reduced voltage gaps and an increased power density of similar to 5.9 mW cm(-2). This cell is stable over 20 cycles for 400 h with reduced voltage gap of similar to 0.95V. These findings are attributed to the facilitated redox kinetics of the clustered Co3V2O8 nanoparticles arising from the optimal metal-OH bond strength and large surface area. (C) 2018 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.