Issue 32, 2022

Deep-breathing Fe-doped superstructure modified by polyethyleneimine as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts for Zn–air batteries

Abstract

The development of economical, robust and highly active non-precious metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts to replace precious metal catalysts is crucial for the widespread applications of metal–air batteries. Herein, a method for the modification of carbon by polyethyleneimine (PEI) is reported for the fabrication of Fe-doped three-dimensional (3D) porous carbon materials (defined as cal-FeZIF-NSC). Benefiting from the special N,S-co-doped 3D interconnected structure with high conductivity, which enhanced the accessibility to the active sites by “exhaling/inhaling” reactants and products, and Fe doping after modification with PEI, the newly prepared cal-FeZIF-NSC catalyst exhibited remarkable ORR catalytic activity in alkaline electrolyte with a high half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.8 V (approaching that of Pt/C) and good stability (only 28 mV decline of E1/2 after 10 000 cycles). As a proof of concept, a Zn–air battery was further assembled using cal-FeZIF-NSC-0.2 as air cathodes, which exhibited a large specific capacity of 744 mA h g−1 and long-term cycling stability (90 cycles/30 h), superior to that of commercial Pt/C–RuO2 catalysts, demonstrating the considerable application potential of this catalyst. This simple synthesis strategy may provide a new idea to fabricate Fe-doped catalysts for energy storage and conversion applications.

Graphical abstract: Deep-breathing Fe-doped superstructure modified by polyethyleneimine as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts for Zn–air batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Apr 2022
Accepted
07 Jul 2022
First published
21 Jul 2022

CrystEngComm, 2022,24, 5792-5800

Deep-breathing Fe-doped superstructure modified by polyethyleneimine as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts for Zn–air batteries

Y. Li, J. Liu, L. Zheng, Y. Zhang, W. Zhou, K. Shi, H. Xu and J. Gao, CrystEngComm, 2022, 24, 5792 DOI: 10.1039/D2CE00470D

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