Engineering iron-group bimetallic nanotubes as efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for flexible Zn–air batteries

Yanli Niu; Shuaiqi Gong; Xuan Liu; Chen Xu; Mingze Xu; Shi-Gang Sun; Zuofeng Chen

eScience (Sep 2022)

Engineering iron-group bimetallic nanotubes as efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for flexible Zn–air batteries

Yanli Niu,
Shuaiqi Gong,
Xuan Liu,
Chen Xu,
Mingze Xu,
Shi-Gang Sun,
Zuofeng Chen

Affiliations

Yanli Niu: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
Shuaiqi Gong: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
Xuan Liu: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
Chen Xu: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
Mingze Xu: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
Shi-Gang Sun: State Key Lab of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surface, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
Zuofeng Chen: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China; Corresponding author.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 2, no. 5
pp. 546 – 556

Abstract

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Air cathode performance is essential for rechargeable zinc–air batteries (ZABs). In this study, we develop a self-templated synthesis technique for fabricating bimetallic alloys (FeNi3), bimetallic nitrides (FeNi3N) and heterostructured FeNi3/FeNi3N hollow nanotubes. Owing to its structural and compositional advantages, FeNi3/FeNi3N exhibits remarkable bifunctional oxygen electrocatalytic performance with an extremely small potential gap of 0.68 V between the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Theoretical calculations reveal reduced Gibbs free energy for the rate-limiting O–O bond formation during OER due to the self-adaptive surface reconfiguration, which induces a synergistic effect between Fe(Ni)OOH developed in situ on the surface and the inner FeNi3/FeNi3N. ZAB fabricated using the FeNi3/FeNi3N catalyst shows high power density, small charge/discharge voltage gap and excellent cycling stability. In addition to its excellent battery performance, the corresponding quasi-solid-state ZAB shows robust flexibility and integrability. The synthesis method is extended to prepare a CoFe/CoFeN oxygen electrocatalyst, demonstrating its applicability to other iron-group elements.

Published in eScience

ISSN: 2667-1417 (Online)
Publisher: KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.
Country of publisher: China
LCC subjects: Technology: Mechanical engineering and machinery; Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Electronics
Website: https://www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/escience/

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