Iron, Cobalt, and Nickel Phthalocyanine Tri-Doped Electrospun Carbon Nanofibre-Based Catalyst for Rechargeable Zinc-Air Battery Air Electrode

• Published in: Materials Vol. 16; no. 13; p. 4626
• Main Authors: Muuli, Kaur, Kumar, Rohit, Mooste, Marek, Gudkova, Viktoria, Treshchalov, Alexey, Piirsoo, Helle-Mai, Kikas, Arvo, Aruväli, Jaan, Kisand, Vambola, Tamm, Aile, Krumme, Andres, Moni, Prabu, Wilhelm, Michaela, Tammeveski, Kaido
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27.06.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Acids; Batteries; bifunctional catalyst; Carbon; Carbon fibers; carbon nanofibres; carbon nanomaterial; Catalysts; Chemical reduction; Discharge; Electric vehicles; Electrocatalysts; Electrodes; electrospinning; Energy; Energy storage; Glassy carbon; Investigations; Ions; Iron; Metal air batteries; metal phthalocyanine; Nanofibers; Nickel; non-precious metal catalyst; Oxygen evolution reactions; Oxygen reduction reactions; Phthalocyanins; Production costs; Rechargeable batteries; Scanning electron microscopy; Spectrum analysis; Zinc; Zinc-oxygen batteries; Germany; Estonia; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; metal phthalocyanine; non-precious metal catalyst; bifunctional catalyst; electrospinning; zinc–air battery; carbon nanofibres; electrocatalysis; oxygen reduction; carbon nanomaterial
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma16134626

The goal of achieving the large-scale production of zero-emission vehicles by 2035 will create high expectations for electric vehicle (EV) development and availability. Currently, a major problem is the lack of suitable batteries and battery materials in large quantities. The rechargeable zinc-air battery (RZAB) is a promising energy-storage technology for EVs due to the environmental friendliness and low production cost. Herein, iron, cobalt, and nickel phthalocyanine tri-doped electrospun carbon nanofibre-based (FeCoNi-CNF) catalyst material is presented as an affordable and promising alternative to Pt-group metal (PGM)-based catalyst. The FeCoNi-CNF-coated glassy carbon electrode showed an oxygen reduction reaction/oxygen evolution reaction reversibility of 0.89 V in 0.1 M KOH solution. In RZAB, the maximum discharge power density ( ) of 120 mW cm was obtained with FeCoNi-CNF, which is 86% of the measured with the PGM-based catalyst. Furthermore, during the RZAB charge-discharge cycling, the FeCoNi-CNF air electrode was found to be superior to the commercial PGM electrocatalyst in terms of operational durability and at least two times higher total life-time.