Covalent organic polymer derived N–doped carbon confined FeNi alloys as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst for rechargeable zinc-air battery. (29th April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Jun; Li, Liandong; Cheng, Yuanhui; Huang, Yan; Chen, Chang
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 47:Number 36(2022)
• Page Start: 16025
• Page End: 16035
• Publication Date: 2022-04-29
• Subjects: FeNi alloys -- Encapsulated nanoparticles -- Carbon shells -- Bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst -- Zn-air battery; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.03.100
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: N–doped carbon confined FeNi alloys are promising candidate to noble Pt and IrO2 or RuO2 for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in rechargeable zinc-air batteries. However, it is difficult to control the distribution of transition metals in the precursor and electrocatalyst. Herein, we design a covalent organic polymer to realize the uniform distribution of metal, nitrogen and carbon precursors. The structure of the obtained electrocatalyst is FeNi nanoparticles coated with carbon shells dispersed on N-doped multilayer porous carbon (FeNi@NC). The resultant FeNi@NC delivered a half-wave potential for ORR of 0.878 V and a low potential of 1.59 V to achieve 10 mA cm −2 for OER, which surpasses commercial platinum/carbon and ruthenium dioxide. The outstanding bifunctional properties of FeNi@NC attribute to the synergistic coupling between N-doped carbon shells and dense FeNi nanoparticles. Moreover, the self-made zinc-air battery with FeNi@NC air-cathode displayed an excellent energy density of 137.7 mW cm − 2 as well as cycling stability (100 h, 200 cycles). Highlights: A novel N-rich covalent organic polymer was developed as a carbonaceous precursor for loading FeNi alloys. FeNi alloy nanoparticles are coated with several carbon layers. The FeNi@NC exhibits excellent ORR and OER catalytic activity in alkaline electrolyte. Zn-air battery with FeNi@NC catalyst exhibits high power density and long cycle life.