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Atomically dispersed quintuple nitrogen and oxygen co-coordinated zirconium on graphene-type substrate for highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction.

Zhao, Xue; Wang, Jing; Wang, Jinming; Yang, Meng; Yan, Chenglin; Zou, Guodong; Tse, John S.; Fernandez, Carlos; Peng, Qiuming

Authors

Xue Zhao

Jing Wang

Jinming Wang

Meng Yang

Chenglin Yan

Guodong Zou

John S. Tse

Qiuming Peng



Abstract

A cost-effective and long stability catalyst with decent electrochemical activity would play a crucial role in accelerating applications of metal-air batteries. Here, we report quintuple nitrogen and oxygen co-coordinated Zr sites on graphene (Zr-N/O-C) by using a ball-milling, solid-solution-assisted pyrolysis method. The as-prepared Zr-N/O-C catalyst with 2.93 wt % Zr shows a half-wave potential of 0.910 V, an onset potential of 1.000 V in 0.1 M KOH, impressive durability (95.1% remains after 16,000 s), and long-term stability (5 mV loss over 10,000 cycles). Zn-air batteries with the Zr-N/O-C electrode exhibit a maximum power density of 217.9 mW cm−2 and a high cycling life of over 1,000 h, exceeding the counterpart equipped with a Pt/C benchmark. Theoretical simulations demonstrate that nitrogen and oxygen dual-ligand confinement effectively tunes the d-band center and balances key intermediates binding energy of intrinsic quintuple coordination Zr sites.

Citation

ZHAO, X., WANG, J., WANG, J., YANG, M., YAN, C., ZOU, G., TSE, J.S., FERNANDEZ, C. and PENG, Q. 2022. Atomically dispersed quintuple nitrogen and oxygen co-coordinated zirconium on graphene-type substrate for highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction. Cell reports physical science [online], 3(3), article 100773. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100773

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 25, 2022
Online Publication Date Mar 16, 2022
Publication Date Mar 16, 2022
Deposit Date Mar 18, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 18, 2022
Journal Cell Reports Physical Science
Print ISSN 2666-3864
Electronic ISSN 2666-3864
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 3
Issue 3
Article Number 100773
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100773
Keywords Single atomic Zr; Quintuple coordination; Electrochemical catalyst; DFT calculations; Oxygen reduction reaction; Zn-air battery
Public URL https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1625209
Additional Information The accompanying file also contains supplementary material which can be found at pages 17-40, at the end of the main text.