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Efficient Oxygen Electrocatalysts for Zn-Air Battery

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lei Du

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Guest Editor

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: electrochemical energy conversion and storage: materials and devices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Mingjie Wu

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Guest Editor

Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique - Energy Materials Telecommunications Research Centre (INRS-EMT), 1650, blvd. Lionel-Boulet Varennes, QC J3X 1S2, Canada
Interests: non-noble metal catalysts; fuel cells; metal-air batteries; CO₂ reduction; water splitting; XAS

Dr. Tianyu Cao

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Room 311 A, Towne building, South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Interests: catalysis; energy conversion; greenhouse gas control; fuel cells

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue organized by Catalysts will focus on recent advances in oxygen electrocatalysts used in Zn-Air batteries (ZABs), which involve oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen revolution reaction (OER). Among the various energy storage systems, rechargeable ZABs have been widely studied owing to their high theoretical energy density, excellent safety, and eco-friendliness. However, due to their low stability, power density, and rechargeable efficiency, rechargeable ZABs are still far from large-scale commercial application. Developing efficient oxygen electrocatalysts plays a vital role in effectively promoting charging–discharging performance. This Special Issue will cover experimental and theoretical investigations, as well as reviews/perspecives/viewpoints, into oxygen electrocatalysts for ZABs, which aim at discovering advanced catalysts to efficiently catalyze ORR and/or OER and bring novel ideas and concepts that would help to progress the field. We are particularly interested in the study and insightful viewpoints of surface/interface nanoengineering of catalysts.

Prof. Lei Du
Dr. Mingjie Wu
Dr. Tianyu Cao
Guest Editors

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Keywords

oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)
oxygen revolution reaction (OER)
Zn-Air battery
bifunctional catalysts
in situ characterization
DFT
surface/interface nanoengineering

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 3907 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pt/C-TiO₂ as Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysts against Sulfur Poisoning

by Yuxin Liu, Jing Ye, Fanpeng Kong, Chunyu Du, Pengjian Zuo, Lei Du and Geping Yin

Catalysts 2022, 12(5), 571; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12050571 - 23 May 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2007

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells using Pt-based materials as electrocatalysts have achieved a decent performance, represented by the launched Toyota Mirai vehicle. The ideal PEM fuel cells consume stored pure hydrogen and air. However, SO₂, as a primary air contaminant, may be fed along with air at the cathode, leading to Pt site deactivation. Therefore, it is important to improve the SO₂ tolerance of catalysts for the stability of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this work, we develop the Pt/C-TiO₂ catalyst against SO₂ poisoning during ORR. Impressively, the hybrid Pt/C-TiO₂ catalyst with 20 mass % TiO₂ shows the best ORR and anti-toxic performance: the kinetic current density of ORR is 20.5% higher and the degradation rate after poisoning is 50% lower than Pt/C. The interaction between Pt and TiO₂ as well as the abundant hydroxyl groups on the surface of TiO₂ are both revealed to account for the accelerated removal of poisonous SO₂ on Pt surfaces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Oxygen Electrocatalysts for Zn-Air Battery)

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Review

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23 pages, 5492 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Progress of Non-Noble Metal Catalysts for Oxygen Electrode in Zn-Air Batteries: A Mini Review

by Jia Sun, Ning Wang, Zhaozhong Qiu, Lixin Xing and Lei Du

Catalysts 2022, 12(8), 843; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal12080843 - 1 Aug 2022

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2961

Abstract

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) play crucial roles in energy conversion and storage devices. Particularly, the bifunctional ORR/OER catalysts are core components in rechargeable metal–air batteries, which have shown great promise in achieving "carbon emissions peak and carbon neutrality" goals. However, the sluggish ORR and OER kinetics at the oxygen cathode significantly hinder the performance of metal–air batteries. Although noble metal-based catalysts have been widely employed in accelerating the kinetics and improving the bifunctionality, their scarcity and high cost have limited their deployment in the market. In this review, we will discuss the ORR and OER mechanisms, propose the principles for bifunctional electrocatalysts design, and present the recent progress of the state-of-the-art bifunctional catalysts, with the focus on non-noble metal-based materials to replace the noble metal catalysts in Zn–air batteries. The perspectives for the future R&D of bifunctional electrocatalysts will be provided toward high-performance Zn–air batteries at the end of this paper. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Oxygen Electrocatalysts for Zn-Air Battery)

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