Cobalt phosphosulfide nanoparticles encapsulated into heteroatom-doped carbon as bifunctional electrocatalyst for Zn−air battery
Xiaolong Xu, Shuo Wang, Shiquan Guo, Kwan San Hui, Jiameng Ma, Duc Anh Dinh, Kwun Nam Hui, Hao Wang, Lipeng Zhang, Guowei Zhou
Abstract
CoPS nanoparticles encapsulated with S, P, N tri-doped carbon material (SPNC) were proposed as bifunctional electrocatalyst of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) derived from zeolitic imidazolate framework-67. Density functional theory calculations consistently revealed that P element in CoPS@SPNC improves the electrical conductivity and reduces OH∗ hydrogenation energy barrier on Co sites, thereby facilitating the overall ORR/OER activities. A flexible Zn–air battery with CoPS@SPNC delivered an overpotential of 0.49 V, an energy efficiency above 80%, and a discharge voltage of 1.29 V at 2 mA cm−2 for 80 h.