In Situ Grown CoMn2 O4 3D-Tetragons on Carbon Cloth: Flexible Electrodes for Efficient Rechargeable Zinc-Air Battery Powered Water Splitting Systems

Gnanaprakasam Janani; Subramani Surendran; Hyeonuk Choi; Mi-Kyung Han; Uk Sim

doi:10.1002/smll.202103613

In Situ Grown CoMn₂ O₄ 3D-Tetragons on Carbon Cloth: Flexible Electrodes for Efficient Rechargeable Zinc-Air Battery Powered Water Splitting Systems

Small. 2021 Nov;17(47):e2103613. doi: 10.1002/smll.202103613. Epub 2021 Oct 22.

Authors

Gnanaprakasam Janani¹, Subramani Surendran¹, Hyeonuk Choi¹, Mi-Kyung Han^{1

2}, Uk Sim^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Engineering Research Center, Optoelectronics Convergence Research Center, Future Energy Engineering Convergence and College of AI Convergence, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 61186, South Korea.
² Research Institute, NEEL Sciences, INC., Gwangju, 61186, South Korea.

PMID: 34677907
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202103613

Abstract

The integration of energy conversion and storage systems such as electrochemical water splitting (EWS) and rechargeable zinc-air battery (ZAB) is on the vision to provide a sustainable future with green energy resources. Herein, a unique strategy for decorating 3D tetragonal CoMn₂ O₄ on carbon cloth (CMO-U@CC) via a facile one-pot in situ hydrothermal process, is reported. The highly exposed morphology of 3D tetragons enhances the electrocatalytic activity of CMO-U@CC. This is the first demonstration of such a bifunctional activity of CMO-U@CC in an EWS system; it achieves a nominal cell voltage of 1.610 V @ 10 mA cm^-2 . Similarly, the fabricated rechargeable ZAB delivers a specific capacity of 641.6 mAh g_zn ^-1 , a power density of 135 mW cm^-2 , and excellent cyclic stability (50 h @ 10 mA cm^-2 ). Additionally, a series of flexible solid-state ZABs are fabricated and employed to power the assembled CMO-U@CC-based water electrolyzer. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an in situ-grown binder-free CMO-U@CC as a flexible multifunctional electrocatalyst for a built-in integrated rechargeable ZAB-powered EWS system.

Keywords: binder-free flexible electrodes; in situ growth; multifunctional electrocatalysts; rechargeable zinc-air batteries; water splitting.

Abstract

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