Issue 9, 2022

A multifunctional cobalt iron sulfide electrocatalyst for high performance Zn–air batteries and overall water splitting

Abstract

Developing a highly efficient, inexpensive, and robust catalyst with multifunctional activity is pivotal and central to regenerative greener metal–air batteries and fuel cells. However, it is still a big challenge to achieve the integration of three functions in a single catalyst. Herein, we report a facile, template-free and scalable strategy to synthesize nanorod embedded wheat-grain CoFe(3:1)S2 in conjunction with nitrogen-containing carbon by a simple single-step hydrothermal reaction. The synthesized catalyst demonstrates remarkable pH-universal hydrogen evolution activity and requires only 98, 117, and 123 mV overpotential in 0.5 M H2SO4, 1 M KOH and 1 M PBS to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2. The optimized catalyst also exhibits a remarkable bifunctional oxygen activity and when CoFe(3:1)S2 is used as an air cathode, it demonstrates a very high peak power density of 387 mW cm−2 and energy density of 1008 W h kg−1 with prolonged cycling stability. Besides, a water electrolyzer assembled using a CoFe(3:1)S2 based anode and cathode affords a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at a low cell potential of 1.584 V. When two Zn–air batteries are connected in series, they successfully powered overall water splitting, manifesting the feasibility of CoFe(3:1)S2 for various energy conversion and storage systems.

Graphical abstract: A multifunctional cobalt iron sulfide electrocatalyst for high performance Zn–air batteries and overall water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Nov 2021
Accepted
23 Jan 2022
First published
24 Jan 2022

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022,10, 4720-4730

A multifunctional cobalt iron sulfide electrocatalyst for high performance Zn–air batteries and overall water splitting

M. Kumar and T. C. Nagaiah, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022, 10, 4720 DOI: 10.1039/D1TA10018A

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