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Nano Research 2020, 13(8): 2175-2182 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2828-3
Research Article | Issue | Published: 05 August 2020

Bubble-like Fe-encapsulated N,S-codoped carbon nanofibers as efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for robust Zn-air batteries

Show Author's Information Yiyi She1,§,  Jin Liu1,§,  Hongkang Wang2,  Li Li3,  Jinsong Zhou1,  Michael K.H. Leung1( )
Ability R&D Energy Research Centre, School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Center of Nanomaterials for Renewable Energy (CNRE), State Key Lab of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, School of Electrical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou 213001, China

§ Yiyi She and Jin Liu contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
oxygen reduction reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, heteroatom doping, bifunctional catalyst, FeNSC catalyst
Topics:
Carbon nanofibers Catalyst activityCost effectivenessElectrocatalystsElectrodesElectrolytic reduction Fuel cellsIronNanoparticlesOxygenOxygen evolution reactionOxygen reduction reaction Porous materialsPrecious metals
Cite this article:
She Y, Liu J, Wang H, et al. Bubble-like Fe-encapsulated N,S-codoped carbon nanofibers as efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for robust Zn-air batteries. Nano Research, 2020, 13(8): 2175-2182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2828-3
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Efficient, robust and cost-effective bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are of vital importance to the widespread utilization of Zn-air batteries. Here we report the fabrication of a bubble-like N,S-codoped porous carbon nanofibers with encapsulated fine Fe/Fe5C2 nanocrystals (~ 10 nm) (FeNSCs) by a facile one-pot pyrolysis strategy. The novel FeNSC nanostructures with high Fe content (37.3 wt.%), and synergetic N and S doping demonstrate remarkable ORR and OER catalytic activities in alkaline condition. Particularly for ORR, the optimal FeNSC catalyst exhibits superior performance in terms of current density and durability in both alkaline and acidic media. Moreover, as catalysts on the air electrodes of Zn-air batteries, the optimal FeNSCs show a high peak power density of 59.6 mW/cm2 and extraordinary discharge-charge cycling performance for 200 h with negligible voltage gap change of only 8% at current density of 20 mA/cm, surpassing its noble metal counterpart (i.e. Pt). The impressive battery stability can be attributed to favorable electron transfer resulting from appropriate graphitization of the bubble-like carbon nanofibers and thorough protection of Fe/Fe5C2 nanoparticles by carbon wrapping to prevent oxidation, agglomeration and dissolution of Fe nanoparticles during battery cycling. The present FeNSC catalyst, which is highly active, robust yet affordable, shows promising prospects in large-scale applications, such as metal-air batteries and fuel cells.


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About this article

Bubble-like Fe-encapsulated N,S-codoped carbon nanofibers as efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for robust Zn-air batteries

Show Author's information Yiyi She1,§, Jin Liu1,§, Hongkang Wang2, Li Li3, Jinsong Zhou1, Michael K.H. Leung1( )
Ability R&D Energy Research Centre, School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Center of Nanomaterials for Renewable Energy (CNRE), State Key Lab of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, School of Electrical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou 213001, China

§ Yiyi She and Jin Liu contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Efficient, robust and cost-effective bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are of vital importance to the widespread utilization of Zn-air batteries. Here we report the fabrication of a bubble-like N,S-codoped porous carbon nanofibers with encapsulated fine Fe/Fe5C2 nanocrystals (~ 10 nm) (FeNSCs) by a facile one-pot pyrolysis strategy. The novel FeNSC nanostructures with high Fe content (37.3 wt.%), and synergetic N and S doping demonstrate remarkable ORR and OER catalytic activities in alkaline condition. Particularly for ORR, the optimal FeNSC catalyst exhibits superior performance in terms of current density and durability in both alkaline and acidic media. Moreover, as catalysts on the air electrodes of Zn-air batteries, the optimal FeNSCs show a high peak power density of 59.6 mW/cm2 and extraordinary discharge-charge cycling performance for 200 h with negligible voltage gap change of only 8% at current density of 20 mA/cm, surpassing its noble metal counterpart (i.e. Pt). The impressive battery stability can be attributed to favorable electron transfer resulting from appropriate graphitization of the bubble-like carbon nanofibers and thorough protection of Fe/Fe5C2 nanoparticles by carbon wrapping to prevent oxidation, agglomeration and dissolution of Fe nanoparticles during battery cycling. The present FeNSC catalyst, which is highly active, robust yet affordable, shows promising prospects in large-scale applications, such as metal-air batteries and fuel cells.

Keywords: oxygen reduction reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, heteroatom doping, bifunctional catalyst, FeNSC catalyst

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 21 December 2019
Revised: 21 April 2020
Accepted: 23 April 2020
Published: 05 August 2020
Issue date: August 2020

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020

Acknowledgements

The research presented in this paper was funded by Project 21875200 supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China. The research was also supported by Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20170314).

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