Electronic Structure Regulation of Iron Phthalocyanine Induced by Anchoring on Heteroatom‐Doping Carbon Sphere for Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction and Al–Air Battery

• Published in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. e2105594 - n/a
• Main Authors: Luo, Yingjian, Chen, Yihan, Xue, Yali, Chen, Jinwei, Wang, Gang, Wang, Ruilin, Yu, Miao, Zhang, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Aluminum; Carbon; Catalysts; Charge distribution; Clean energy; Electrocatalysts; Electron density; Electronic structure; electronic structure regulation; Energy storage; Energy technology; heteroatom doping; Iron; iron phthalocyanine; Macrocyclic compounds; Metal air batteries; Metal phthalocyanines; Nanotechnology; oxygen reduction reaction; Oxygen reduction reactions; Platinum; rechargeable Al–air batteries; Storage batteries; Substrates; heteroatom doping; rechargeable Al-air batteries; oxygen reduction reaction; electronic structure regulation; iron phthalocyanine
• ISSN: 1613-6810; 1613-6829
• DOI: 10.1002/smll.202105594

Aluminum–air batteries (AABs) are deemed as a potential clean energy storage device. However, exploiting high‐efficiency and stable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts in AABs is still a challenge. Iron phthalocyanine (FePc) shows a great prospect in ORR but still far from Pt‐based catalysts. Here, the hybrid electrocatalysts of monolayer FePc and hollow N,S‐doped carbon spheres (HNSCs) are innovatively constructed through π–π stacking to achieve high dispersion. The resulting FePc@HNSC catalyst exhibits an outstanding ORR activity, outperforming that of pristine FePc and even most Fe‐based catalysts reported to date. Moreover, the AAB using FePc@HNSC catalyst not only demonstrates a superior power density than the battery with Pt/C, but also displays stable discharge voltages and excellent durability. Furthermore, the theoretical calculations confirm that the charge distribution and d‐band center of the Fe atom in FePc are efficiently optimized by hybrid configuration via the introduction of N,S‐doped carbon substrate. The design leads to an enriched electron density around Fe active sites and significant reduction of energy barrier for OH* formation, which are favorable for the improvement of electrocatalytic ORR performance. This work provides a chance to expand the application of metallic macrocyclic compound electrocatalysts in various energy technologies. This paper reports a hybrid electrocatalyst consisting of monolayer FePc and hollow N,S‐doped carbon spheres (HNSCs). The charge distribution and d‐band center of the Fe atom can be efficiently optimized via the introduction of N,S‐doped carbon substrate. Thus, the FePc@HNSC catalyst exhibits outstanding oxygen reduction reaction activity. Moreover, the aluminum–air battery using FePc@HNSC also demonstrates superior battery performance.