An Isolated Zinc–Cobalt Atomic Pair for Highly Active and Durable Oxygen Reduction. Issue 9 (6th February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lu, Ziyang; Wang, Bo; Hu, Yongfeng; Liu, Wei; Zhao, Yufeng; Yang, Ruoou; Li, Zhiping; Luo, Jun; Chi, Bin; Jiang, Zheng; Li, Minsi; Mu, Shichun; Liao, Shijun; Zhang, Jiujun; Sun, Xueliang
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 58:Issue 9(2019)
• Page Start: 2622
• Page End: 2626
• Publication Date: 2019-02-06
• Subjects: cobalt -- isolated atomic pairs -- oxygen reduction reaction -- Zn-air battery; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201810175
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: A competitive complexation strategy has been developed to construct a novel electrocatalyst with Zn‐Co atomic pairs coordinated on N doped carbon support (Zn/CoN‐C). Such architecture offers enhanced binding ability of O2, significantly elongates the O−O length (from 1.23 Å to 1.42 Å), and thus facilitates the cleavage of O−O bond, showing a theoretical overpotential of 0.335 V during ORR process. As a result, the Zn/CoN‐C catalyst exhibits outstanding ORR performance in both alkaline and acid conditions with a half‐wave potential of 0.861 and 0.796 V respectively. The in situ XANES analysis suggests Co as the active center during the ORR. The assembled zinc–air battery with Zn/CoN‐C as cathode catalyst presents a maximum power density of 230 mW cm −2 along with excellent operation durability. The excellent catalytic activity in acid is also verified by H2 /O2 fuel cell tests (peak power density of 705 mW cm −2 ). Abstract : Discrete zinc/cobalt bimetallic sites were supported on N‐doped carbon (Zn/CoN‐C) through a competitive complexation stretegy. The as‐prepared Zn/CoN‐C catalyst exhibits outstanding ORR performance in both alkaline and acid conditions, and the assembled Zn–air batteries and H2 /O2 fuel cell show excellent power density and stability, which demonstrate suitability for practical applications.