Pt/Zn heterostructure as efficient air-electrocatalyst for long-life neutral Zn-air batteries

Abstract

Neutral Zn-air batteries (ZABs) have attracted much attention due to the enhanced lifespan and stability. However, their development is suppressed by the poor catalytic properties of the air-electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Hence, the exploration of highly efficient electrocatalysts for neutral ZABs is critical. Herein, we designed an economical heterostructure of Pt nanoparticle-modified Zn nanoplates (Pt/Zn NPs). Compared with commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst, our Pt/ Zn heterostructure exhibits comparable catalytic properties and ultrahigh stability in neutral media. The heterostructure can reduce the dosage of Pt and offer sufficient active sites, resulting in enhanced catalytic properties for ORR/OER in neutral media. When applied to neutral ZABs as air cathode, our heterostructure exhibits a high power density of 45 mW cm −2 and excellent stability of more than 850 cycles with negligible decay, making it the most efficient and robust one in neutral electrolyte. This approach opens a new avenue to strategically design catalysts with high activity for neutral ZABs, rendering them potential in portable and wearable electronic devices.

Robust Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysis Enabled by Platinum Rooted on Molybdenum Nitride Microrods

“…The ORR electrocatalytic performance was evaluated in a standard three-electrode system on an electrochemical workstation (CH Instruments Ins., CHI700E) using a 0.1 M KOH aqueous solution as the electrolyte, Ag/AgCl (saturated potassium chloride aqueous solution) as the reference electrode, carbon rod as the counter electrode, and the catalyst-modified glass carbon electrode (GCE) as the working electrode . To prepare the working electrode, the catalyst (2.5 mg) was well mixed with electronic conductive carbon black (EC) with a mass ratio of 1:1 in a mixed aqueous solution containing 990 μL of absolute ethanol and 10 μL of Nafion solution (5 wt %).…”

Recent Advances in Flexible Zn–Air Batteries: Materials for Electrodes and Electrolytes

“…Liang et al. [ 96 ] developed a new strategy to combine Zn nanoparticles with Pt (Pt/Zn NPs) as oxygen catalyst for ZABs in neutral media. During preparation, Zn and Pt atoms were electrodeposited on the Ti mesh successively, then the Pt/Zn–Ti mesh was annealed to fabricate Pt/Zn NPs ( Figure a).…”

Heterostructuring cobalt sulfide with highly oxophilic 1T-tungsten sulfide for durable and efficient oxygen electrocatalysis

“…), have been intensively exploited as a promising class of ORR/OER catalysts to replace expensive and scarce platinum-group metals (Pt, Ru, and Ir). 2,3 In spite of incredibly boosting the activities by means of structural, compositional, and defect engineering, 4,5 they still undergo self-oxidation under ORR/OER conditions to form (oxy)hydroxides, 6–10 accompanied by morphological changes and even structural collapse, leading to the instability of the catalytic performance.…”