Ferrocene-crosslinked polypyrrole hydrogel derived Fe-N-doped hierarchical porous carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for pH universal ORR and Zn-air batteries

• Published in: New journal of chemistry Vol. 45; no. 22; pp. 12 - 111
• Main Authors: Sun, Peng, Zhang, Teng, Luo, Haotian, Dou, Jinli, Bian, Weiwei, Pan, Zhengxuan, Zheng, Aili, Zhou, Baolong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 14.06.2021
• Subjects: Carbon; Catalysts; Crosslinking; Electrocatalysts; Flux density; Hydrogels; Low cost; Metal air batteries; Oxygen reduction reactions; Polypyrroles; Structural hierarchy; Zinc-oxygen batteries
• ISSN: 1144-0546; 1369-9261
• DOI: 10.1039/d1nj01340h

Herein, a cost-effective and high-efficiency Fe-N-doped carbon-based catalyst, denoted as PF-800, was facilely prepared via direct carbonization of a polypyrrole hydrogel (PF) using low cost and commercially mass-produced ferrocenedicarboxylic acid as the cross-linking agent and dopant, simultaneously. Combining the features of hierarchical pore structure and Fe-N-doped elemental composition, PF-800 displays impressive activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the whole pH range. Further application in practical devices validates that Zn-air batteries using PF-800 as the cathode catalyst present high power and energy density as well as excellent long-term running stability, outperforming the batteries equipped with commercial Pt/C (20%). This study paves a way for the rational design of low-cost Fe-N-C catalysts for renewable energy applications. A Fe-N-doped catalyst (PF-800), prepared via pyrolysis of ferrocene-crosslinked polypyrrole hydrogel, shows impressive activity for ORR in various pH. Further Zn-air battery using PF-800 present high energy density and excellent long-term stability.