Nanoscale tungsten nitride/nitrogen-doped carbon as an efficient non-noble metal catalyst for hydrogen and oxygen recombination at room temperature in nickel-iron batteries.

A nanoscale tungsten nitride/nitrogen-doped carbon (WN/NC) catalyst was synthesized through a facile route, and it exhibited efficient catalytic performance for hydrogen and oxygen recombination at room temperature with an average catalytic velocity of 140 μmol h g and long catalytic life of 954 660 s without decay in the catalytic performance. With the WN/NC catalyst, a nickel-iron battery could be sealed and maintenance-free, and it also exhibited low cost; thus, the nickel-iron battery can be used for large-scale energy storage systems in rural/remote areas.