NaCl sealing Strategy-Assisted synthesis CoO-Co heterojunctions as efficient oxygen electrocatalysts for Zn air batteries

Lechen Diao; Wei Zhou; Biao Zhang; Chunsheng Shi; Zhichao Miao; Jin Zhou; Chunnian He

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.080

NaCl sealing Strategy-Assisted synthesis CoO-Co heterojunctions as efficient oxygen electrocatalysts for Zn air batteries

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Sep:645:329-337. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.080. Epub 2023 Apr 25.

Authors

Lechen Diao¹, Wei Zhou², Biao Zhang³, Chunsheng Shi⁴, Zhichao Miao⁵, Jin Zhou⁵, Chunnian He⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, PR China.
² Department of Physics, School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, PR China. Electronic address: weizhou@tju.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, PR China.
⁵ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China.
⁶ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, PR China; Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou 350207, PR China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin 300072, PR China. Electronic address: cnhe08@tju.edu.cn.

PMID: 37150006
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.080

Abstract

Developing highly efficient, low-cost, and stable bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts is essential for the wide popularization of rechargeable Zn-air batteries. Combining zero-dimensional metal nanoparticles with two-dimensional metal oxide nanosheets is an appealing strategy to balance performance and cost. However, the precise construction of these composites remains a great challenge, and their interaction mechanisms lack thorough study. Herein, a cobalt-oxide-based bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst comprising a rich Co-CoO heterointerface (CoO/Co@NG) was synthesized via a NaCl sealing-assisted pyrolysis strategy. The NaCl crystals played the role of a closed nanoreactor, which facilitated the formation of a CoO-Co heterojunction. Experimental results and theoretical calculations confirmed that the ingeniously constructed heterojunction expedited the oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction kinetics, which is superior to Pt/C. When serving as the air electrode in an assembled liquid-state Zn-air battery, the battery shows high power density (215 mW cm^-2), specific capacity (710 mAh g_zn^-1), and outstanding durability (720 h at 10 mA cm^-2). This work provides an innovative avenue to design high-performance heterojunction electrocatalysts for perdurable Zn-air batteries.

Keywords: 0D/2D heterostructure electrocatalysts; Cobalt-oxide based electrocatalyst; Oxygen reduction reaction; Zn-air battery.