Abstract
Metal-air batteries are attracting increasing attention as a superior renewable energy conversion device due to their high performance and strong potential. However, the high cost and low stability of the current Pt catalyst is the main obstacle preventing wide industrial application. In this work, we applied a plasma process to fabricate aniline and a transition metals electrode (Fe, Co, Ni) as the carbon-nitrogen and the metal nanoparticle (NP) precursors, respectively, for selective metal/amino-N-doped carbon catalysts. All three as-synthesized catalysts exhibited dominant amino-N as the major C–N bonding state. In electrochemical testing, Co/amino-N-doped carbon showed positive E1/2 potential (0.83 V vs. Reversible Hydrogen Electrode (RHE)). In addition, the calculated electron transfer number (n) of Co/amino-N-doped carbon at 0.5 V vs. RHE was 3.81, which was only slightly less than that of commercial Pt/C (3.97). This superior performance of transition metal/amino-N-doped carbon promotes it as an economical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst to replace expensive Pt/C in metal-air batteries.
Highlights
Within the accelerating application of renewable energy in many fields, metal-air batteries have been spotlighted as one of the candidates for a next-generation energy conversion device, mainly due to their high theoretical energy density, simple structure, and variety of component designs [1,2,3,4]
When air is used as the cathode fuel, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) that occurs at the cathode governs the performance of the overall system
We suggest that transition metal doped with selective amino-N bonding has a positive synergetic effect on ORR activity
Summary
Within the accelerating application of renewable energy in many fields, metal-air batteries have been spotlighted as one of the candidates for a next-generation energy conversion device, mainly due to their high theoretical energy density, simple structure, and variety of component designs [1,2,3,4]. When air is used as the cathode fuel, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) that occurs at the cathode governs the performance of the overall system. Due to the difficulties of O2 chemical sorption/activation, the slow reaction rate of ORR often limits the system performance [4,5]. Platinum (Pt) shows the best performance as an ORR catalyst and has often been applied in practical metal-air batteries. The high capital cost and scarcity of Pt have prompted researchers to develop other alternatives to replace Pt/C [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
