Versatile electrochemical manufacturing of mixed metal sulfide/N-doped rGO composites as bifunctional catalysts for high power rechargeable Zn–air batteries
Journal article, 2024
The development of rechargeable zinc–air batteries requires air cathodes capable of performing both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with high performance and an extended operational lifespan. Here, we present a cost-effective and versatile electrochemical method for the direct assembly of such electrocatalysts, consisting of nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (NrGO) and mixed transition metal sulfides (NiCoMnSx or NCMS). To this end, we use a small electric bias to electro-deposit both NrGO and NCMS directly on conductive graphene foam, resulting in a perfect porous network and two interpenetrated paths for the easy transport of electrons and ions. The NCMS/ NrGO composite shows one of the highest limiting currents reported so far for a non-noble metal catalyst. Additionally, it exhibits outstanding bifunctional performance for the ORR/OER, superior to both mixed transition metal compounds and noble metals from previous reports. Thus, it serves as a highly efficient air cathode for practical zinc–air batteries featuring high power densities (124 mW cm−2) and long catalyst durability (1560 cycles, around 260 h). We attribute the excellent performance to the synergistic effect between hetero-structured metallic sites and nitrogen dopants. Our approach can be used for preparing efficient zinc–air cathodes on conductive 3D carbon substrates with arbitrary shapes and good performance.
Author
Jaime S. Sanchez
R&D Department China Three Gorges (Europe) S.A.
IMDEA Energy Institute
Zhenyuan Xia
Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)
Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture
Keyvan Mirehbar
IMDEA Energy Institute
Sankar Sasidharan
Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture
S. Assa Aravindh
University of Oulu
A. Liscio
Consiglo Nazionale Delle Richerche
Jinhua Sun
Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture
Meganne Christian
Consiglo Nazionale Delle Richerche
Jesus Palma
IMDEA Energy Institute
Vincenzo Palermo
Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture
Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)
Rebeca Marcilla
IMDEA Energy Institute
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
20507488 (ISSN) 20507496 (eISSN)
Vol. 12 20 11945-11959Subject Categories
Materials Chemistry
Condensed Matter Physics
DOI
10.1039/d3ta07765a