Zn, Fe Dual-Atom Sites Catalyst Constructed by Metal Vacancy Strategy for Oxygen Reduction Reaction and Zn-Air Battery
Mingfu Ye, Jieyue Wang, Linxiao Zhan, Mingyue Wang, Weijie Yan, Yawu Wang, Yang Kang, Huifang Liu, Yiwei Tan, Wenhai Wang, Chang Chen, Konglin Wu
Abstract
Developing highly efficient electrocatalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction is significant for Zn–air battery (ZAB), which is still arduous. In this work, based on a metal vacancy strategy, we synthesized an atomically dispersed Zn, Fe dual-atom catalyst on N-doped carbon (Zn, Fe/NC) by pyrolyzing the ZIF-8, postadsorbing Fe 3+, and second pyrolysis steps. Due to the introduction of Fe atoms, the obtained Zn, Fe/NC-800 catalyst displays outstanding performance in an alkaline electrolyte (half-wave potential: 0.881 V), which approaches closely that of commercial Pt/C (0.903 V). Theoretical calculations indicate that the excellent activity of Zn and Fe/NC-800 can be attributed to the integration of Fe atoms that effectively optimizes the rate-limiting step. Zn, Fe/NC-800 also presents robust durability and strong methanol tolerance. Moreover, the ZAB assembled with Zn, Fe/NC-800 delivers charge–discharge cycling life (550 h) at 10 mA cm –2 without noticeable decay. Furthermore, Zn, Fe/NC-800 even show a glorious flexible adaptability when employed as the cathode in a flexible ZAB.