Rechargeable Zn–Air Batteries with Outstanding Cycling Stability Enabled by Ultrafine FeNi Nanoparticles-Encapsulated N-Doped Carbon Nanosheets as a Bifunctional Electrocatalyst
Xufeng Li, Yijiang Liu, Hongbiao Chen, Mei Yang, Duanguang Yang, Huaming Li, Zhiqun Lin
Abstract
Despite grand advances in Zn–air batteries in recently years, their commercialization remains challenging due largely to the lack of efficient bifunctional oxygen catalysts. Herein, we report the crafting of a bifunctional electrocatalyst comprising ultrafine alloyed FeNi nanoparticles encapsulated within N-doped layered carbon nanosheets (denoted FeNi/N–LCN) for high-efficiency Zn–air batteries. The FeNi/N–LCN electrocatalyst is yielded via the coordination of triphenylimidazole-containing polyaniline (TPANI) oligomer with Fe- and Ni-containing precursors, followed by hydrogen binding with melamine and subsequent pyrolysis. The as-constructed FeNi/N–LCN manifests outstanding activity and stability toward both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The primary Zn–air battery assembled with FeNi/N–LCN delivers both high specific capacity and peak power density. Remarkably, the rechargeable Zn–air battery can be repeatedly charged and discharged for 1100 h at 5 mA cm–2 and for 600 h at 10 mA cm–2, representing the highest cycling stability among various reported Zn–air batteries.