Novel Hydrogel-Derived Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalyst for Rechargeable Air Cathodes

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Abstract
The commercialization of Zn–air batteries has been impeded by the lack of low-cost, highly active, and durable catalysts that act independently for oxygen electrochemical reduction and evolution. Here, we demonstrate excellent performance of NiCo nanoparticles anchored on porous fibrous carbon aerogels (NiCo/PFC aerogels) as bifunctional catalysts toward the Zn–air battery. This material is designed and synthesized by a novel K2Ni(CN)4/K3Co(CN)6-chitosan hydrogel-derived method. The outstanding performance of NiCo/PFC aerogels is confirmed as a superior air-cathode catalyst for a rechargeable Zn–air battery. At a discharge–charge current density of 10 mA cm–2, the NiCo/PFC aerogels enable a Zn–air battery to cycle steadily up to 300 cycles for 600 h with only a small increase in the round-trip overpotential, notably outperforming the more costly Pt/C+IrO2 mixture catalysts (60 cycles for 120 h). With the simplicity of the synthetic method and the outstanding electrocatalytic performance, the NiCo/PFC aerogels are promising electrocatalysts for Zn–air batteries.
Funding Information
  • Basic Energy Sciences (DE-SC0005397)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (21273116, 21376122)

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