Confinement pyrolysis of FeCo dual-single atoms electrocatalyst for significantly boosting oxygen reduction reaction and rechargeable Zn-air battery

Abstract

To address the energy crisis, it is critical to pursuit economic, high-energy density and stable electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, N,P-codoped hollow mesoporous carbon spheres supported FeCo dual-single atoms (FeCo-N,P-HCS) are synthesized via one-step confinement pyrolysis of the mixed metal salts, hollow mesoporous carbon spheres and dicyandiamide. Impressively, the gained FeCo-N,P-HCS exhibited a positive onset potential (Eonset = 1.01 V) and half wave potential (E1/2 = 0.85 V) in a 0.1 M KOH electrolyte, revealing the superior ORR characteristics. Later on, the FeCo-N,P-HCS assembled Zn-air battery displayed an open circuit voltage of 1.491 V, a high power density of 140 mW cm−2 and great cyclic stability over the Pt/C + RuO2 based counterpart. This research affords some constructive insights for searching high-efficiency catalyst in relevant energy storage and conversion fields.