The design of single iron atoms dispersed with nitrogen coordination environment electrocatalyst for zinc -air battery

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is crucial to the development of fuel cell and metal-air battery. Metals with atomic-level dispersion has been considered as the effective nano-technologies to promote the activity and stability of catalysts for ORR. Herein, we designed Fe/N-doped porous carbon (Fe-NPC) as efficient ORR catalysts in both alkaline and acid electrolyte through a simplified one-pot method. The Fe species were atomically dispersed in the synthesized materials by FeN4C10 moieties and exhibited excellent electrocatalytic performance. Experimental and theoretical results showed that Fe-N4 sites existed in Fe-NPC endowed it with high intrinsic catalytic activity for ORR. When utilized as air electrode catalyst in Zn-air battery, Fe-NPC material achieved a maximum power density (126.0 mW cm-2) and could operate steadily for over 11 h. This work presents a simplified strategy in the design and synthesis of sing-atom catalysts electrocatalysts with high activity and stability, paving the way for the mass production and mechanistic studies of catalysts in reality.

Automated summary

In this study, a simplified method was used to design efficient ORR catalysts Fe/N-doped porous carbon (Fe-NPC), which exhibited high intrinsic catalytic activity and stability. The Fe-NPC material achieved a high power density and stability when used as an air electrode catalyst in a zinc-air battery. This work provides a method for mass production and mechanistic studies of catalysts in practical applications.