A Chinese team has developed a highly efficient catalyst for environmentally friendly batteries
I learned from Anhui University of Technology that Professor Zeng Jie, Professor Liu Mingkai, and Associate Professor Li Hongliang from the University of Science and Technology of China have collaborated to develop a highly efficient catalyst for environmentally friendly zinc-air batteries, which is expected to play an important role in the future energy field.
This achievement was published on January 3 in the internationally renowned journal Nature Communications. Anhui University of Technology is the first completing unit.
Zinc-air batteries, also known as zinc-oxygen air batteries, are environmentally friendly batteries that are small in size, light in weight, have a wide applicable temperature range, are non-corrosive, and operate safely and reliably. However, the cathode of zinc-air batteries is highly dependent on the use of the precious metal platinum. Platinum has limited reserves and is expensive, which restricts the large-scale promotion of zinc-air batteries.
Therefore, developing a cathode catalyst that can replace precious metal platinum and has superior performance is a key scientific issue in the field of zinc-air batteries.
The joint R&D team led by Zeng Jie creatively combined chemical etching and nitrogen source anchoring methods to prepare high-purity diatomic iron catalysts and achieved precise control of the distance between two adjacent iron atoms. The researchers also extended this method to a series of non-precious metal catalysts, achieving the preparation of various non-precious metal diatomic catalysts including iron, copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, and manganese.
The researchers applied the diatomic iron catalyst to the cathode of the zinc-air battery to replace the traditional platinum metal catalyst. The results show that this catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity, ability to withstand complex environments, and long-term stability. The zinc-air battery assembled with it exhibits a maximum power density as high as 190.6 milliwatts per square centimeter, significantly better than the battery assembled with the traditional platinum catalyst (151.7 milliwatts per square centimeter).
This work provides a new approach for developing low-cost, high-performance catalysts for zinc-air batteries.
