Issue 48, 2020

Tailoring the hetero-structure of iron oxides in the framework of nitrogen doped carbon for the oxygen reduction reaction and zinc–air batteries

Abstract

Rationally constructing hetero-structures of iron species for efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) remains challenging. Herein, an efficient and robust strategy has been developed for building and tailoring FeOx/Fe hetero-structures. By tuning the temperature of H2 treatment, highly dispersed FeOx/Fe hetero-structures with controllable composition and multiple exposed crystal planes have been obtained to increase the electro-conductivity and hydrophilicity for efficient ORR. The resulting as-prepared Fe2O3@NC-450 exhibited remarkable ORR activity with an Eonset value of 1.001 V, E1/2 of 0.838 V and limited current density of 6.71 mA cm−2, which are superior to those of commercial 20 wt% Pt/C (Eonset = 0.994 V, E1/2 = 0.828 V, 5.19 mA cm−2). Moreover, Fe2O3@NC-450 provided a high power density of 156.6 mW cm−2, which is 2.3 times that of 20 wt% Pt/C (68 mW cm−2) in a zinc–air battery test. In addition, Fe2O3@NC-450 had a discharge time of 29 h, which is longer than that of 20 wt% Pt/C (23.5 h). This work provides an alternative efficient way to rationally construct hetero-structures of metal oxides and metal for next-generation ORR catalysts and metal–air batteries.

Graphical abstract: Tailoring the hetero-structure of iron oxides in the framework of nitrogen doped carbon for the oxygen reduction reaction and zinc–air batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 10 2020
Accepted
13 11 2020
First published
09 12 2020

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 25791-25804

Tailoring the hetero-structure of iron oxides in the framework of nitrogen doped carbon for the oxygen reduction reaction and zinc–air batteries

Z. Xiao, C. Wu, W. Wang, L. Pan, J. Zou, L. Wang, X. Zhang and G. Li, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 25791 DOI: 10.1039/D0TA09828K

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