Nsanzimana Jean Marie Vianney, Cai Lebin, Jiang Zhongqing, Xia Bao Yu, Maiyalagan Thandavarayan
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 9, 35131, Padua, PD, Italy.
Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), 1037 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan, 430074, People's Republic of China.
Nanomicro Lett. 2025 Jun 13;17(1):294. doi: 10.1007/s40820-025-01799-w.
Rechargeable metal-air batteries have gained significant interest due to their high energy density and environmental benignity. However, these batteries face significant challenges, particularly related to the air-breathing electrode, resulting in poor cycle life, low efficiency, and catalyst degradation. Developing a robust bifunctional electrocatalyst remains difficult, as oxygen electrocatalysis involves sluggish kinetics and follows different reaction pathways, often requiring distinct active sites. Consequently, the poorly understood mechanisms and irreversible surface reconstruction in the catalyst's microenvironment, such as atomic modulation, nano-/microscale, and surface interfaces, lead to accelerated degradation during charge and discharge cycles. Overcoming these barriers requires advancements in the development and understanding of bifunctional electrocatalysts. In this review, the critical components of metal-air batteries, the associated challenges, and the current engineering approaches to address these issues are discussed. Additionally, the mechanisms of oxygen electrocatalysis on the air electrodes are examined, along with insights into how chemical characteristics of materials influence these mechanisms. Furthermore, recent advances in bifunctional electrocatalysts are highlighted, with an emphasis on the synthesis strategies, microenvironmental modulations, and stabilized systems demonstrating efficient performance, particularly zinc- and lithium-air batteries. Finally, perspectives and future research directions are provided for designing efficient and durable bifunctional electrocatalysts for metal-air batteries.
可充电金属空气电池因其高能量密度和环境友好性而备受关注。然而，这些电池面临着重大挑战，特别是与空气呼吸电极相关的挑战，导致循环寿命短、效率低和催化剂降解。开发一种强大的双功能电催化剂仍然很困难，因为氧电催化涉及缓慢的动力学，并且遵循不同的反应途径，通常需要不同的活性位点。因此，催化剂微环境中如原子调制、纳米/微米尺度和表面界面等难以理解的机制和不可逆的表面重构，导致在充放电循环中加速降解。克服这些障碍需要在双功能电催化剂的开发和理解方面取得进展。在这篇综述中，讨论了金属空气电池的关键组件、相关挑战以及解决这些问题的当前工程方法。此外，还研究了空气电极上氧电催化的机制，以及材料的化学特性如何影响这些机制的见解。此外，还强调了双功能电催化剂的最新进展，重点是合成策略、微环境调制和展示高效性能的稳定系统，特别是锌空气电池和锂空气电池。最后，为设计用于金属空气电池的高效耐用双功能电催化剂提供了展望和未来研究方向。
