Cuboid-like phosphorus-doped metal-organic framework-derived CoSe2 on carbon cloth as an advanced bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst for rechargeable zinc-air batteries

Zinc-air batteries (ZABs) are regarded as attractive devices for electrochemical energy storage and conversion due to their outstanding electrochemical performance, low price, and high safety. However, it remains a chal-lenge to design a stable and efficient bifunctional oxygen catalyst that can accelerate the reaction kinetics and improve the performance of ZABs. Herein, a phosphorus-doped transition metal selenide/carbon com-posite catalyst derived from metal-organic frameworks (P-CoSe2/C@CC) is constructed by a self-supporting carbon cloth structure through a simple solvothermal process with subsequent selenization and phosphati-zation. The P-CoSe2/C@CC exhibits a low overpotential of 303.1 mV at 10 mA cm-2 toward the oxygen evo-lution reaction and an obvious reduction peak for the oxygen reduction reaction. The abovementioned electrochemical performances for the P-CoSe2/C@CC are attributed to the specific architecture, the super-hydrophilic surface, and the P-doping effect. Remarkably, the homemade zinc-air battery based on our P-CoSe2/C@CC catalyst shows an expected peak power density of 124.4 mW cm-2 along with excellent cycling stability, confirming its great potential application in ZABs for advanced bifunctional electrocatalysis.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A phosphorus-doped transition metal selenide/carbon composite catalyst (P-CoSe2/C@CC) with excellent electrochemical performance is obtained from metal-organic frameworks through a simple solvothermal process. The catalyst exhibits low overpotential for the oxygen evolution reaction and a clear reduction peak for the oxygen reduction reaction, showing great potential for application in zinc-air batteries.