Hu Xiaolin, Luo Gan, Guo Xiaolong, Zhao Qiannan, Wang Ronghua, Huang Guangsheng, Jiang Bin, Xu Chaohe, Pan Fusheng
College of Aerospace Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
Sci Bull (Beijing). 2021 Apr 15;66(7):708-719. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.11.009. Epub 2020 Nov 14.
Zinc-air batteries (ZnABs) with high theoretical capacity and environmental benignity are the most promising candidates for next-generation electronics. However, their large-scale applications are greatly hindered due to the lack of high-efficient and cost-effective electrocatalysts. Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have been reported as promising electrocatalysts. Notably, (NiCr)P (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) is an unstable electrocatalyst, which undergoes in-situ electrochemical oxidation during the initial oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and even in the activation cycles, and is eventually converted to Cr-NiOOH serving as the actual OER active sites with high efficiency. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations and experimental results elucidate that the OER performance could be significantly promoted by the synergistic effect of surface engineering and electronic modulations by Cr doping and in-situ phase transformation. The constructed rechargeable ZnABs could stably cycle for more than 208 h at 5 mA cm, while the voltage degradation is negligible. Furthermore, the developed catalytic materials could be assembled into flexible and all-solid-state ZnABs to power wearable electronics with high performance.
具有高理论容量和环境友好性的锌空气电池（ZnABs）是下一代电子产品最有前景的候选者。然而，由于缺乏高效且经济高效的电催化剂，它们的大规模应用受到了极大阻碍。过渡金属磷化物（TMPs）已被报道为有前景的电催化剂。值得注意的是，(NiCr)P（0≤x≤0.15）是一种不稳定的电催化剂，在初始析氧反应（OER）期间甚至在活化循环中会发生原位电化学氧化，最终转化为Cr-NiOOH，高效地作为实际的OER活性位点。密度泛函理论（DFT）模拟和实验结果表明，通过Cr掺杂和原位相变的表面工程和电子调制的协同效应可以显著提高OER性能。构建的可充电ZnABs在5 mA cm下可以稳定循环超过208小时，而电压降可以忽略不计。此外，所开发的催化材料可以组装成柔性全固态ZnABs，为高性能可穿戴电子产品供电。
