Fe, B, and N Codoped Carbon Nanoribbons Derived from Heteroatom Polymers as High-Performance Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts for Zinc–Air Batteries

Abstract

For zinc–air batteries, it is of great importance to heighten the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of cathode electrocatalysts. Herein, we synthesized carbon nanoribbons doped with Fe, B, and N as high-activity ORR electrocatalysts by a templating method. Benefiting from the melamine fiber (MF) and B doping, the as-prepared carbon nanoribbon has a high specific surface area, and the improved turnover frequency of Fe sites increases the ORR activity. The as-synthesized Fe–B–N–C electrocatalyst shows an improved half-wave potential and limited current density compared to Fe–N–C, B–N–C, and N–C. Moreover, zinc–air batteries with the Fe–B–N–C electrocatalyst exhibit a higher specific capacity and better long-term durability compared to those with commercial Pt/C. This work provides an effective strategy to synthesize noble-metal-free electrocatalysts for wide applications of zinc–air batteries.

Efficient Synthesis of Fe/N-Doped Carbon Nanotube as Highly Active Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Alkaline Media

“…Recently, platinum-based catalysts are regarded as the preferred and widely used catalysts due to their high activity leading to water as the final product via four electrons transfer. − However, platinum-based catalysts are also confronted with a series of problems, including the low reserves and high cost of platinum, poor stability, and antipoisoning ability, which hamper commercialization of FCs and other related energy storage devices . With regards to this, extensive studies have been dedicated to design substitutes with high performance, outstanding stability, and cheap, such as non-noble metal and nonmetal catalysts. − In particular, those highly active metal–nitrogen-doped carbon (M–N-C) have been seen as potential catalysts to catch up with platinum-based catalysts. − …”

Role of heteroatom-doping in enhancing catalytic activities and the stability of single-atom catalysts for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions

“…In the current work, only S was considered as the doping element for the TM-N-C catalytic structures. Recently, researches on boosting the catalytic properties by engineering catalytic systems with other p-block element-doped TM-N-C systems are emerging, for example, P-doped Fe-N-C, 53,54 Sidoped Fe-N-C, 55 B-doped Fe-N-C, 56 P-doped Co-N-C, 57,58 O-doped Mn-N-C, 59 and B-doped Ni-N-C. 60 Considering similar valence electron configuration and atomic radius, the intrinsic descriptor of S in the current study is promising for extension to other p-block elements.…”

Strategy of Electrolyte Design: Triethanolamine as a Polydentate Ligand to Improve Solvation of Zinc in Zinc–Air Batteries

“…With a trend of speeded-up electronic device development and a sharper energy situation, the need for advanced energy storage devices is becoming increasingly urgent. − The zinc–air batteries (ZABs) have attracted many scientists to work on them. , The ZABs are widely regarded as the next-generation energy election by their prominent potentiality in volumetric energy density (6136 W h L –1 ) and specific capacity (1218 W h kg –1 ), compared to lithium–air batteries. Therefore, many efforts of applying ZABs have been made in some small components, for example, emerging microelectronic devices powered by ZABs. , However, there still are unavoidable problems hindering the development of ZABs such as self-corrosion and passivation effect of the zinc anode …”