Bifunctionality of CoMoO4 nanorods with Co, N co-doped carbon heterostructures can be used in zinc-air batteries

The development of affordable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) using non-precious metals creates opportunities to enhance fuel cell energy storage systems. In this paper, we report a surface cladding technique encapsulated in a heterostructure of nitrogen and cobalt self-doped carbon (NC-Co) to achieve highly efficient ORR and OER. CoMoO₄ has exceptional electrical conductivity and catalytic activity because of its unique rod-like structure, which gives it a high specific surface area and more active sites. Moreover, the integration of CoMoO₄ and NC-Co can enhance the heterostructures' conductivity by inducing electron redistribution and narrowing the band gap, which supports the improvement of the charge transfer kinetics of the heterostructures. Meanwhile, the obtained CoMoO₄@NC-Co exhibits strong bifunctional ORR/OER activity and stability by optimizing the structure and positive interaction between CoMoO₄ and NC-Co layers. More significantly, compared to conventional Pt/C batteries, the zinc-air batteries (ZABs) built using CoMoO₄@NC-Co demonstrated greater specific capacity (814 mAh g⁻¹) and extended cycle life. This paper's study suggests a possible use for ZABs as well as a logical path for creating very effective rare earth catalysts.