Shiqing Huang, Jiaming Wang, Zhenyang Li, Shitao Wang, Yan Huang*, Lirong Zheng* and Dapeng Cao*,
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
The limited application of rechargeable zinc–air batteries (ZAB) is mainly attributed to the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an air cathode. Therefore, designing catalysts to improve the ORR kinetics is significantly important. Herein, we synthesize metal oxide-decorated ZnS nanoparticles (NPs) supported on nitrogen-doped porous carbon (denoted as MxOy-ZnS-N-C; M = Fe, Co) by a two-step pyrolysis strategy. The lattice contraction of ZnS NPs induced by the introduction of the MxOy moiety is confirmed by systematic characterizations, including XRD, TEM, and XANES. The FexOy-ZnS-NC/CoxOy-ZnS-NC catalysts exhibit an apparently improved ORR activity with E1/2 of 0.895/0.86 V, respectively, compared to the pure ZnS-N-C reference sample (0.75 V). Importantly, the FexOy-ZnS-NC ORR catalyst-based ZAB also delivered a high power density of 243 mW cm–2 and a long durability over 400 h. These excellent properties of MxOy-ZnS-NC catalysts were attributed to the fact that introduction of MxOy leads to the lattice contraction of ZnS NPs, which efficiently optimizes the electronic structure of the as-prepared samples and therefore improves the ORR performance. This paper provides a useful strategy of using lattice strain to regulate the electronic structure of catalysts for boosting their electrochemical properties.
期刊介绍:
ACS Applied Energy Materials is an interdisciplinary journal publishing original research covering all aspects of materials, engineering, chemistry, physics and biology relevant to energy conversion and storage. The journal is devoted to reports of new and original experimental and theoretical research of an applied nature that integrate knowledge in the areas of materials, engineering, physics, bioscience, and chemistry into important energy applications.