Doctoral Program of Nanosciences and Nanotechnology, Graduate School, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
Falihah Balqis
Material Science and Engineering Research Group, Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
Pilar Bela Persada
Material Science and Engineering Research Group, Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
Fredina Destyorini
Research Center for Advanced Materials, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Kawasan Puspiptek Gedung 440, Tangerang Selatan 15314, Indonesia
Rike Yudianti
Research Center for Advanced Materials, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Kawasan Puspiptek Gedung 440, Tangerang Selatan 15314, Indonesia
Ferry Iskandar
Research Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (RCNN), Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
Afriyanti Sumboja
Material Science and Engineering Research Group, Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
Zn-air batteries (ZABs) with neutral electrolytes offer a significantly longer lifespan and better recyclability than alkaline ones. However, low-performance bifunctional catalytic activities for oxygen reduction or evolution reaction (i.e., ORR/OER) in neutral electrolytes still hamper their development. Here, we report iron nanoparticle-decorated nitrogen/boron co-doped reduced graphene oxide aerogel (Fe-NBrGO) with distinguished ORR/OER activity, enabling its application in neutral rechargeable ZABs. Taking advantage of the formation of 3D porous structure of graphene aerogel, N/B-moieties active sites, and Fe-containing active sites, Fe-NBrGO exhibits high ORR onset potential (1.074 and 0.817 V) and adequate OER overpotential (476 and 615 mV) in alkaline and neutral electrolytes, respectively. Fe-NBrGO enables the production of a neutral-ZAB with 34 mW cm−2 in peak power density and remains stable for a 284 h (~852 cycles) cycling test. This research highlights the rational design of highly active oxygen catalysts for the widespread implementation of new energy storage technologies.
