Accelerated deprotonation with a hydroxy-silicon alkali solid for rechargeable zinc-air batteries.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37907458.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-42728-y and PMC identifier 10618233.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Transition metal oxides are promising electrocatalysts for zinc-air batteries, yet surface reconstruction caused by the adsorbate evolution mechanism, which induces zinc-ion battery behavior in the oxygen evolution reaction, leads to poor cycling performance. In this study, we propose a lattice oxygen mechanism involving proton acceptors to overcome the poor performance of the battery in the OER process. We introduce a stable solid base, hydroxy BaCaSiO<sub>4</sub>, onto the surfaces of PrBa<sub>0.5</sub>Ca<sub>0.5</sub>Co<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5+δ</sub> perovskite nanofibers with a one-step exsolution strategy. The HO-Si sites on the hydroxy BaCaSiO<sub>4</sub> significantly accelerate proton transfer from the OH* adsorbed on PrBa<sub>0.5</sub>Ca<sub>0.5</sub>Co<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5+δ</sub> during the OER process. As a proof of concept, a rechargeable zinc-air battery assembled with this composite electrocatalyst is stable in an alkaline environment for over 150 hours at 5 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> during galvanostatic charge/discharge tests. Our findings open new avenues for designing efficient OER electrocatalysts for rechargeable zinc-air batteries.