Interface engineering of Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite/CeO2/carbon heterojunction for rechargeable zinc-air batteries

Yanzhu Deng; Juwei Du; Yan Zhu; Ling Zhao; Huanwen Wang; Yansheng Gong; Jun Jin; Beibei He; Rui Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.09.138

Interface engineering of Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite/CeO₂/carbon heterojunction for rechargeable zinc-air batteries

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Jan;653(Pt B):1775-1784. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.09.138. Epub 2023 Sep 23.

Authors

Yanzhu Deng¹, Juwei Du¹, Yan Zhu¹, Ling Zhao², Huanwen Wang³, Yansheng Gong¹, Jun Jin⁴, Beibei He³, Rui Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China.
² Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China; Zhejiang Institute, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Hangzhou 311305, China; Shenzhen Research Institute, China University of Geosciences, Shenzhen 518057, China.
³ Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China; Zhejiang Institute, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Hangzhou 311305, China.
⁴ Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China; Shenzhen Research Institute, China University of Geosciences, Shenzhen 518057, China.
⁵ Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China. Electronic address: wangrui@cug.edu.cn.

PMID: 37838547
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.09.138

Abstract

The development of noble metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts is the key to driving the sluggish oxygen reduction/evolution reaction (ORR/OER) for rechargeable zinc-air battery applications. There is an urgent need to design and construct robust and cost-efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts. Herein, an interface engineering strategy of Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) perovskite/CeO₂/carbon heterojunction with core-shell nanostructures is described. Ce-based metal-organic framework derived CeO₂-C nanosheets are decorated on the surface of RP type perovskite Pr₃Sr(Ni_0.5Co_0.5)₃O_10-δ (PSNC) nanofibers. Benefiting from the favorable conductivity, abundant oxygen vacancies and strong interfacial coupling, the hierarchical CeO₂-C/PSNC electrode delivers a half-wave potential of 0.78 V (ORR), and an OER overpotential of 370 mV at 10 mA cm^-2, respectively. A liquid rechargeable zinc-air battery (ZAB) assembled with CeO₂-C/PSNC electrocatalysts as the air cathode exhibits a peak power density of 161 mW cm^-2 and a long-term cycling life over 219 h. In addition, the CeO₂-C/PSNC-based all-solid-state cable-type ZAB provides a high open-circuit voltage (∼1.44 V), good flexibility and durability. Our study opens a new insight into the design of efficient electrocatalysts for rechargeable ZABs by constructing hierarchical heterojunctions.

Keywords: Bifunctional electrocatalyst; Heterojunction; Hierarchical structure; Ruddlesden–Popper perovskite; Zinc-air batteries.