Ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of cobalt oxide/nitrogen-doped graphene oxide hybrid as oxygen reduction reaction catalyst for Al-air battery

Zengjie Wang; Hongpeng Zhou; Jilai Xue; Xuan Liu; Shizhe Liu; Xiang Li; Dingyong He

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.105457

Ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of cobalt oxide/nitrogen-doped graphene oxide hybrid as oxygen reduction reaction catalyst for Al-air battery

Ultrason Sonochem. 2021 Apr:72:105457. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.105457. Epub 2021 Jan 4.

Authors

Zengjie Wang¹, Hongpeng Zhou², Jilai Xue³, Xuan Liu⁴, Shizhe Liu², Xiang Li², Dingyong He¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Materials and Manufacturing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: jx@ustb.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: xuanliu@ustb.edu.cn.

Abstract

A persistent ultrasound-assisted hydrothermal method has been developed to prepare cobalt oxide incorporated nitrogen-doped graphene (Co₃O₄/N-GO) hybrids. The electrochemical behaviors and catalytic activity of the prepared hybrids have been systematically investigated as cathode materials for Al-air battery. The results show that ultrasonication can promote the yield ratio of Co₃O₄ from 63.1% to 70.6%. The prepared Co₃O₄/N-GO hybrid with ultrasonication exhibits better ORR activity over that without ultrasonication. The assembled Al-air battery using the ultrasonicated Co₃O₄/N-GO hybrid exhibited an average working voltage of 1.02 V in 4 M KOH electrolyte at 60 mA∙cm^-2, approximately 60 mV higher than that using hybrid without ultrasonication. This should be attributed to large number density of fine Co₃O₄ particles growing on the dispersed GO sheets under the persistent ultrasonication. The related ultrasonic mechanism has been discussed in details.

Keywords: Aluminum air battery; Co(3)O(4)/N-GO hybrid; Oxygen reduction reaction catalyst; Ultrasound-assisted hydrothermal synthesis.