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Nano Research 2017, 10(12): 4436-4447 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1343-z
Research Article | Issue | Published: 14 January 2017

Iron-chelated hydrogel-derived bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst for high-performance rechargeable Zn–air batteries

Show Author's Information Fanlu Meng1,2,  Haixia Zhong1,3,  Junmin Yan2( ),  Xinbo Zhang1( )
State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Chinese Academy of SciencesChangchun 130022 China
Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials Ministry of Education and College of Materials Science and Engineering Jilin UniversityChangchun 130012 China
University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing 100049 China
Keywords:
hydrogel, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), iron-nitrogen-doped carbon, bifunctional, Zn–air batteries
Cite this article:
Meng F, Zhong H, Yan J, et al. Iron-chelated hydrogel-derived bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst for high-performance rechargeable Zn–air batteries. Nano Research, 2017, 10(12): 4436-4447. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1343-z
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Efficient oxygen electrocatalysts are the key elements of numerous energy storage and conversion devices, including fuel cells and metal–air batteries. In order to realize their practical applications, highly efficient and inexpensive non-noble metal-based oxygen electrocatalysts are urgently required. Herein, we report a novel iron-chelated urea-formaldehyde resin hydrogel for the synthesis of Fe-N-C electrocatalysts. This novel hydrogel is prepared using a new instantaneous (20 s) one-step scalable strategy, which theoretically ensures the atomic-level dispersion of Fe ions in the urea-formaldehyde resin, guaranteeing the microstructural homogeneity of the electrocatalyst. Consequently, the prepared electrocatalyst exhibits higher catalytic activity and durability in the oxygen reduction (ORR) and evolution (OER) reactions than the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, the above catalyst also shows a much better performance in rechargeable Zn–air batteries, including higher power density and better cycling stability. The developed synthetic approach opens up new avenues toward the development of sustainable active electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy devices.


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About this article

Iron-chelated hydrogel-derived bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst for high-performance rechargeable Zn–air batteries

Show Author's information Fanlu Meng1,2, Haixia Zhong1,3, Junmin Yan2( ), Xinbo Zhang1( )
State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Chinese Academy of SciencesChangchun 130022 China
Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials Ministry of Education and College of Materials Science and Engineering Jilin UniversityChangchun 130012 China
University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing 100049 China

Abstract

Efficient oxygen electrocatalysts are the key elements of numerous energy storage and conversion devices, including fuel cells and metal–air batteries. In order to realize their practical applications, highly efficient and inexpensive non-noble metal-based oxygen electrocatalysts are urgently required. Herein, we report a novel iron-chelated urea-formaldehyde resin hydrogel for the synthesis of Fe-N-C electrocatalysts. This novel hydrogel is prepared using a new instantaneous (20 s) one-step scalable strategy, which theoretically ensures the atomic-level dispersion of Fe ions in the urea-formaldehyde resin, guaranteeing the microstructural homogeneity of the electrocatalyst. Consequently, the prepared electrocatalyst exhibits higher catalytic activity and durability in the oxygen reduction (ORR) and evolution (OER) reactions than the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, the above catalyst also shows a much better performance in rechargeable Zn–air batteries, including higher power density and better cycling stability. The developed synthetic approach opens up new avenues toward the development of sustainable active electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy devices.

Keywords: hydrogel, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), iron-nitrogen-doped carbon, bifunctional, Zn–air batteries

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 24 August 2016
Revised: 14 October 2016
Accepted: 19 October 2016
Published: 14 January 2017
Issue date: December 2017

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2012CB215500), Foundation for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 20921002), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21101147).

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