Issue 11, 2020

An amorphous trimetallic (Ni–Co–Fe) hydroxide-sheathed 3D bifunctional electrode for superior oxygen evolution and high-performance cable-type flexible zinc–air batteries

Abstract

The emerging flexible/wearable electronics have greatly stimulated research on portable batteries with high specific energy and excellent mechanical properties. State-of-the-art zinc–air batteries (ZABs) are potential candidates for flexible energy supply; however, their development is hindered by the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER)/oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of an air cathode. Herein, we demonstrate a 3D integrated bifunctional oxygen electrode of NiCo2O4@NiCoFe–hydroxide nanoarrays for flexible all-solid-state ZABs. Owing to the intact mesoporous nanoarrays synergized with the amorphous trimetallic hydroxide sheath, the free-standing NiCo2O4@NiCoFe–hydroxide electrode exhibited excellent bifunctional activities with an ultralow potential difference of 695 mV between OER and ORR. The NiCo2O4@NiCoFe–hydroxide-based planar aqueous ZAB achieved high discharge capacity (723 mA h gzinc−1 at 10 mA cm−2), high energy density (864.2 W h kgzinc−1 at 5 mA cm−2) and long cycle life of up to 250 h. More significantly, cable-type all-solid-state ZABs fabricated with the 3D oxygen electrode demonstrated an impressive volumetric energy density of 38.1 mW h cm−3 and high mechanical flexibility even after 2000 bending cycles, highlighting their enormous potential for flexible/wearable energy applications.

Graphical abstract: An amorphous trimetallic (Ni–Co–Fe) hydroxide-sheathed 3D bifunctional electrode for superior oxygen evolution and high-performance cable-type flexible zinc–air batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Jan 2020
Accepted
16 Feb 2020
First published
17 Feb 2020

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 5601-5611

An amorphous trimetallic (Ni–Co–Fe) hydroxide-sheathed 3D bifunctional electrode for superior oxygen evolution and high-performance cable-type flexible zinc–air batteries

S. Li, X. Yang, S. Yang, Q. Gao, S. Zhang, X. Yu, Y. Fang, S. Yang and X. Cai, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 5601 DOI: 10.1039/D0TA00888E

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