A Stable Rechargeable Aqueous Zn–Air Battery Enabled by Heterogeneous MoS2 Cathode Catalysts

Autor: Min Wang, Xiaoxiao Huang, Zhiqian Yu, Pei Zhang, Chunyang Zhai, Hucheng Song, Jun Xu, Kunji Chen
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nanomaterials, Vol 12, Iss 22, p 4069 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2079-4991
DOI: 10.3390/nano12224069
Popis: Aqueous rechargeable zinc (Zn)–air batteries have recently attracted extensive research interest due to their low cost, environmental benignity, safety, and high energy density. However, the sluggish kinetics of oxygen (O2) evolution reaction (OER) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of cathode catalysts in the batteries result in the high over-potential that impedes the practical application of Zn–air batteries. Here, we report a stable rechargeable aqueous Zn–air battery by use of a heterogeneous two-dimensional molybdenum sulfide (2D MoS2) cathode catalyst that consists of a heterogeneous interface and defects-embedded active edge sites. Compared to commercial Pt/C-RuO2, the low cost MoS2 cathode catalyst shows decent oxygen evolution and acceptable oxygen reduction catalytic activity. The assembled aqueous Zn–air battery using hybrid MoS2 catalysts demonstrates a specific capacity of 330 mAh g−1 and a durability of 500 cycles (~180 h) at 0.5 mA cm−2. In particular, the hybrid MoS2 catalysts outperform commercial Pt/C in the practically meaningful high-current region (>5 mA cm−2). This work paves the way for research on improving the performance of aqueous Zn–air batteries by constructing their own heterogeneous surfaces or interfaces instead of constructing bifunctional catalysts by compounding other materials.
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