Fe nanoparticles confined by multiple-heteroatom-doped carbon frameworks for aqueous Zn-air battery driving CO2 electrolysis

Tianwei Wang; Quan Zhang; Kang Lian; Gaocan Qi; Qian Liu; Ligang Feng; Guangzhi Hu; Jun Luo; Xijun Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.10.157

Fe nanoparticles confined by multiple-heteroatom-doped carbon frameworks for aqueous Zn-air battery driving CO₂ electrolysis

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Feb:655:176-186. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.10.157. Epub 2023 Nov 2.

Authors

Tianwei Wang¹, Quan Zhang², Kang Lian³, Gaocan Qi⁴, Qian Liu⁵, Ligang Feng⁶, Guangzhi Hu⁷, Jun Luo⁸, Xijun Liu⁹

Affiliations

¹ Institute for New Energy Materials & Low-Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China.
² Institute for New Energy Materials & Low-Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China. Electronic address: 18230299580@163.com.
³ Institute for New Energy Materials & Low-Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China; State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, MOE Key Laboratory of New Processing Technology for Nonferrous Metals and Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004 Guangxi, China.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China. Electronic address: gaocanqi@tjut.edu.cn.
⁵ Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, Sichuan, China.
⁶ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, China.
⁷ Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China.
⁸ ShenSi Lab, Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Study, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Longhua District, Shenzhen 518110, China.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, MOE Key Laboratory of New Processing Technology for Nonferrous Metals and Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004 Guangxi, China. Electronic address: xjliu@gxu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37935071
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.10.157

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) derived carbon materials are considered to be excellent conductive mass transfer substrates, and the large specific surface area provides a favorable platform for loading metal nanoparticles. Tuning the coordination of metals through polyacid doping to change the MOF structure and specific surface area is an advanced strategy for designing catalysts. Modification of Fe-doped ZIF-8 pre-curing by pyrolysis of phosphomolybdic acid hydrate (PMo), Fe nanoparticles confined by Mo and N co-doped carbon frameworks (Fe-NP/MNCF) were fabricated, and the impact of PMo doping on the shape and functionality of the catalysts was investigated. The Zn-air battery (ZAB) driven CO₂ electrolysis was realized by using Fe-NP/MNCF, which was used as bifunctional oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) catalysts. The results show that the half-wave potential (E_1/2) of Fe-NP/MNCF is 0.89 V, and the limiting diffused current density (j_L) is 6.4 mA cm^-2. The ZAB constructed by Fe-NP/MNCF shows a high specific capacity of 794.8 mAh g_Zn^-1, a high open-circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.475 V, and a high power density of 111.6 mW cm^-2. Fe-NP/MNCF exhibited efficient CO₂RR performance with high CO Faraday efficiency (FE_CO) of 87.5 % and current density for the generation of carbon dioxide (j_CO) of 10 mA cm^-2 at -0.9 V vs RHE. ZAB-driven CO₂RR had strong catalytic stability. These findings provide new methods and techniques for the preparation of advanced carbon-based catalysts from MOFs.

Keywords: CO(2) electrolysis; Oxygen reduction reaction; Self-driven system; Zn-air batteries.