Molecular catalysts with electronic axial stretching for high-performance lean-oxygen seawater batteries

Quanjun Tang; Liang Bai; Chen Zhang; Rongwei Meng; Li Wang; Chuannan Geng; Yong Guo; Feifei Wang; Yingxin Liu; Guisheng Song; Guowei Ling; Haitao Sun; Zhe Weng; Quan-Hong Yang

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2023.09.049

Molecular catalysts with electronic axial stretching for high-performance lean-oxygen seawater batteries

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2023 Dec 30;68(24):3172-3180. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2023.09.049. Epub 2023 Oct 4.

Authors

Quanjun Tang¹, Liang Bai², Chen Zhang³, Rongwei Meng⁴, Li Wang⁴, Chuannan Geng⁵, Yong Guo⁵, Feifei Wang⁴, Yingxin Liu⁵, Guisheng Song⁶, Guowei Ling⁷, Haitao Sun⁸, Zhe Weng⁹, Quan-Hong Yang⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Marine Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Nanoyang Group, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon and Electrochemical Energy Storage, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, National Industry-Education Integration Platform of Energy Storage, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China; Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou 350207, China.
² Marine Science and Technology College, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316000, China.
³ School of Marine Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Nanoyang Group, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon and Electrochemical Energy Storage, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, National Industry-Education Integration Platform of Energy Storage, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China. Electronic address: zhangc@tju.edu.cn.
⁴ Nanoyang Group, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon and Electrochemical Energy Storage, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, National Industry-Education Integration Platform of Energy Storage, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China; Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou 350207, China.
⁵ Nanoyang Group, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon and Electrochemical Energy Storage, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, National Industry-Education Integration Platform of Energy Storage, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China.
⁶ School of Marine Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
⁷ School of Marine Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Nanoyang Group, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon and Electrochemical Energy Storage, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, National Industry-Education Integration Platform of Energy Storage, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
⁹ Nanoyang Group, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon and Electrochemical Energy Storage, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, National Industry-Education Integration Platform of Energy Storage, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China. Electronic address: zweng@tju.edu.cn.

PMID: 37839915
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2023.09.049

Abstract

A dissolved-oxygen seawater battery (SWB) can generate electricity by reducing dissolved oxygen and sacrificing the metal anode at different depths and temperatures in the ocean, acting as the basic unit of spatially underwater energy networks for future maritime exploration. However, most traditional oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts are out of work at such ultralow dissolved oxygen concentration. Here, we proposed that the electronic axial stretching of the catalyst is essentially responsible for enhancing the catalyst's sensitivity to dissolved oxygen. By modulating the lattice of iron phthalocyanine (FePc) as a model catalyst, the unique electronic axial stretching in the z-direction of planar FePc molecules was realized to achieve a boosted adsorption and electron transfer and result in a much improved ORR activity in lean-oxygen seawater environment. The peak power density of a homemade SWB using a practical carbon brush electrode decorated by the FePc is estimated to be as high as 3 W L^-¹. These results provide inspiring insights into the interaction between the catalyst and complicated seawater environment, and propose the electronic axial stretching as an effective indicator for the rational design of catalysts to be used in extremely lean-oxygen environment.

Keywords: Axial stretching; Electrocatalysis; Iron phthalocyanine; Oxygen reduction reaction; Seawater batteries.