An efficient and durable trifunctional electrocatalyst for zinc-air batteries driven overall water splitting

Constructing more active and durable trifunctional electrocatalysts is key for boosting overall water splitting and metal-air battery efficiency. Herein, we developed a trifunctional electrocatalyst of ultrafine Pt nanoparticles anchored on CoS2-N-doped reduced graphene oxide (Pt@CoS2-NrGO). Owing to its more Pt active sites with rapid ion/electron transport ability, the Pt@CoS2-NrGO shows excellent trifunctional activities towards HER (r10 = 39 mV), OER (r10 = 235 mV) ORR (E1/2 = 0.85 V vs. RHE) and water splitting device of Pt@CoS2-NrGO|| Pt@CoS2-NrGO achieved cell voltage of 1.48 V at 10 mA cm-2, which is better than Pt-C||RuO2. Finally, we employed Pt@CoS2-NrGO as air cathode for zinc-air battery to display a power density of 114 mW cm-2 and durability of 55 h, outperforming than Pt-C + RuO2 based zinc-air batteries. For practical aspects, Pt@CoS2NrGO based zinc-air batteries were connected to overall water splitting device to produce H2 and O2 gases for hydrogen fuel cell.

Automated summary

The development of a novel trifunctional electrocatalyst Pt@CoS2-NrGO shows promising efficiency in both water splitting and metal-air batteries, with potential applications in hydrogen fuel cells.