Boosting the electrochemical performance of Zn-air battery with N/O co-doped biochar catalyst via a simple physical strategy of forced convection intensity. (15th May 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Han, Shengbo; Wu, Ying; Peng, Shaomin; Xu, Yingying; Sun, Ming; Su, Xiaohui; Zhong, Yuanhong; Wen, Hongli; He, Jun; Yu, Lin
• Is Part Of: Chemical engineering science. Volume 272(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-05-15
• Subjects: N-doped biochar -- Oxygen reduction reaction -- Zn-air batteries -- Force convection intensity -- Natural convection; Chemical engineering -- Periodicals; Génie chimique -- Périodiques; Chemical engineering; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 660
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2023.118615
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-2509

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: NPL-900 possesses half wave same as Pt/C (0.85 V @ -3 mA cm −2 ) The high stability of current retention rate is 83.64 % after 100 h. Gas-O2 is used efficiently than dissolved-O2 in ZAB. Force convection promotes mass transfer capacity of air electrode. The ZAB performance is related to the convection intensity. Abstract: Zn-air batteries (ZAB) is a kind of power battery with great potential. However, it is difficult to improve the electrochemical performance of ZAB by forced convection method similar to the rotating disk electrode. Here, the N, O co-doped porous loofah (NPL-900) was prepared by a one-step method, showing a comparable level of half-wave potential as Pt/C. Furthermore, our simulation and experiment jointly confirmed that gas-O2 could be utilized more efficiently than dissolved-O2 during ZAB operation. Therefore, the electrochemical performance of ZAB under different forced convection intensities (FCI) were investigated, which shows that the optimal FCI can significantly improve the power density of the ZAB. These results highlight that appropriate forced convection intensity is capable of maintaining the oxygen molecules and enabling the catalyst for better adsorption and desorption. This work paves the way for a long-term opportunity to improve the electrochemical performance and broad the application scenarios of ZAB.