FeCoP<sub>2</sub> Nanoparticles Embedded in a Hybrid Carbon Matrix as a High Performance Bifunctional Catalyst of the Advanced Zinc–Air Battery
Renjie Liu, Yuxin Wang, Zheng Wei, Hui Zhang, Zhongyi Zhang
Abstract
The novel catalyst (FeCoP 2 -CN C ) is constructed by inserting the bimetallic phosphide into a hybrid carbon substrate. The structures associated with the active sites are optimized by incorporating ultrafine cellulose fibers as a carbon source. The increased graphitic-N and metal-N species in the carbon matrix, with the enlarged specific surface area, improves the performance of catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction. The increased proportion of surface metal hydroxide active sites improves the performance of catalyzing oxygen evolution reaction. As a high performance bifunctional catalyst, the FeCoP2-CN C is applied to a rechargeable zinc–air battery and exhibits excellent performance in the battery. The solid-state zinc–air battery has achieved an excellent power density (76.9 mW cm –2 ) and can cycle over 45 h. The solid-state zinc–air batteries are integrated into 2 × 2 and 3 × 3 modules to power practical devices. This work provides efficient approaches to enhance the performance of bifunctional catalysts, promoting the application of zinc–air batteries.