Electronic engineering of amorphous Fe-Co-S sites in hetero-nanoframes for oxygen evolution and flexible Al-air batteries

Min Lu, Li An, Jie Yin, Jing Jin, Rui Yang, Bolong Huang, Yang Hu, Yong Qing Zhao, Pinxian Xi

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are key electrochemical processes in metal-air batteries and water splitting devices. Aluminium-air batteries, as an important type of metal-air battery, have been considered to be promising power candidates for flexible electronics. Here, we describe electronically engineered amorphous Fe-Co-S sites embedded in Prussian blue analogue (FeCoSx-PBA) hetero-nanoframes. The experimental results and DFT calculations reveal the critical role of the introduced FeCoSx layer to PBA, which enhances the electron transfer and alleviates the overbinding effect of OH∗ during the OER. The FeCoSx-PBA hybrid system supplies an optimized electronic structure for the alkaline OER, which is also confirmed by the much-lowered overpotential (266 mV at 10 mA cm-2) for the alkaline OER. Furthermore, a flexible Al-air battery based on an FeCoSx-PBA cathode catalyst exhibits a high peak power density (58.3 mW cm-2) and energy density (1483 W h kgAl-1), and outstanding stability for more than 50 h of operation under bending or stretching conditions, demonstrating its potential in the practical application of flexible electronic devices. Our results may provide a new strategy of modulating the electronic structure of air electrode catalysts to efficiently promote the reactivity of alkaline OER and Al-air battery processes.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Materials Chemistry A
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Feb 2022

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • General Materials Science

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