Journal
SMALL
Volume 18, Issue 8, Pages -Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202105928
Keywords
bifunctional electrocatalysis; hierarchically porous; metal-free catalysts; nitrogen doping; zinc-air batteries
Categories
Funding
- School of Automotive Studies & Clean Energy Automotive Engineering Center
- University of Calgary's Canada First Research Excellence Fund Program
- Global Research Initiative in Sustainable Low Carbon Unconventional Resources
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This study introduces a hierarchically porous nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst with bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis for Zn-air batteries, showing superior electrocatalytic activity. Primary and rechargeable Zn-air batteries are fabricated using this catalyst as the cathode.
Active and durable bifunctional electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on the cathode are required for high-performance rechargeable metal-air batteries. Herein, the synthesis of hierarchically porous nitrogen-doped carbon (HPNC) with bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis for Zn-air batteries is reported. The HPNC catalyst possesses a large surface area of 1459 m(2) g(-1) and exhibits superior electrocatalytic activity toward ORR and OER simultaneously with a low OER/ORR overpotential of 0.62 V, taking the difference between the potential at 10 mA cm(-2) for OER and half-wave potential for ORR in 0.1 m KOH. Adopting HPNC as the air cathode, primary and rechargeable Zn-air batteries are fabricated. The primary batteries demonstrate a high open-circuit potential of 1.616 V, a specific capacity of 782.7 mAh g(Zn)(-1) and a superb peak power density of 201 mW cm(-2). The rechargeable batteries can be cycled stably for over 360 cycles or 120 h at the current density of 5 mA cm(-2). As elucidated by density functional theory, N-doping is preferred on defective sites with pentagon configuration and on the edge in the form of pyridinic-N-type. The high content of these two motifs in HPNC leads to the superior ORR and OER activities, respectively.
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