A Rechargeable Zn–Air Battery with High Energy Efficiency Enabled by a Hydrogen Peroxide Bifunctional Catalyst
Alagar Raja Kottaichamy, Jonathan Tzadikov, Angus Pedersen, Jesús Barrio, Gabriel Mark, Itamar Liberman, Alexander Upcher, Michael Volokh, Idan Hod, S. Barzilai, Malachi Noked, Menny Shalom
Abstract
Abstract Rechargeable alkaline zinc–air batteries (ZAB) hold great promise as a viable, sustainable, and safe alternative energy storage system to the lithium‐ion battery. However, the practical realization of ZABs is limited by their intrinsically low energy trip efficiency, stemming from a large charge and discharge potential gap. This overpotential is attributed to the four‐electron oxygen evolution and reduction reactions and their sluggish kinetics. Here, a new concept based on two‐electron generation and consumption of hydrogen peroxide at the air electrode is introduced. The O 2 /peroxide chemistry, facilitated by a newly developed Ni‐based bifunctional electrocatalyst, enables fast peroxide generation/consumption, exceptional energy efficiency, high durability, and high capacity. Hence, this new design offers substantial progress toward the commercialization of high energy density metal–air batteries.