Mass Production of Sulfur-Tuned Single-Atom Catalysts for Zn-Air Batteries

Zehong Chen; Xinwen Peng; Zhongxin Chen; Tingzhen Li; Ren Zou; Ge Shi; Yongfa Huang; Peng Cui; Jian Yu; Yuling Chen; Xiao Chi; Kian Ping Loh; Zhaoqing Liu; Xuehui Li; Linxin Zhong; Jun Lu

doi:10.1002/adma.202209948

Mass Production of Sulfur-Tuned Single-Atom Catalysts for Zn-Air Batteries

Adv Mater. 2023 Apr;35(15):e2209948. doi: 10.1002/adma.202209948. Epub 2023 Mar 2.

Authors

Zehong Chen¹, Xinwen Peng¹, Zhongxin Chen², Tingzhen Li¹, Ren Zou¹, Ge Shi¹, Yongfa Huang¹, Peng Cui¹, Jian Yu¹, Yuling Chen¹, Xiao Chi³, Kian Ping Loh³, Zhaoqing Liu⁴, Xuehui Li¹, Linxin Zhong¹, Jun Lu⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, China.
² School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518172, China.
³ Department of Chemistry and Centre for Advanced 2D Materials (CA2DM), National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore, 117543, Singapore.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering/Guangzhou Key Laboratory for Clean Energy and Materials/Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, No. 230 Wai Huan Xi Road, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
⁵ College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310027, China.

PMID: 36652951
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202209948

Abstract

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) show great potential for rechargeable Zn-air batteries (ZABs); however, scalable production of SACs from sustainable resources is difficult owing to poor control of the local coordination environment. Herein, lignosulfonate, a by-product of the papermaking industry, is utilized as a multifunctional bioligand for the mass production of SACs with highly active MN₄ S sites (M represents Fe, Cu, and Co) via strong metalnitrogen/sulfur coordination. This effectively adjusts the charge distribution and promotes the catalytic performance, leading to highly durable and excellent performance in oxygen reduction and evolution reactions for ZABs. This study paves the way for the industrial production of cost-effective SACs in a sustainable manner.

Keywords: lignosulfonate; mass production; rechargeable Zn-air batteries; single-atom catalysts; sulfur coordination.

Abstract

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