Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jing Qu, Zhongmin Wang, Weijiang Gan, Ran Xiao, Xincheng Yao, Zeba Khanam, Liuzhang Ouyang, Hui Wang, Hao Yang, Shiguo Zhang, Muhammad-Sadeeq Balogun
Summary: The development of single electrocatalysts with multifunctional applications in overall water splitting and zinc-air batteries is crucial for sustainable energy conversion and storage systems. However, finding new and efficient low-cost trifunctional electrocatalysts remains a significant challenge. In this study, the antiperovskite CuNCo3 prototype is improved with optimum catalytic properties by incorporating molybdenum (Mo). The designed antiperovskite-based zinc-air battery shows excellent cyclic stability, high specific capacity, and maximum power density, making it suitable for integrated portable multifunctional energy devices.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jung Hyun Park, Chi Ho Lee, Jong-Min Ju, Jun-Hyeong Lee, Jaehun Seol, Sang Uck Lee, Jong-Ho Kim
Summary: The researchers have successfully developed a covalent organic framework prepared under mild conditions, which induces bifunctional electrocatalytic activities for both the oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction by incorporating Co nanoparticles. Computational simulations show that this material can effectively promote the adsorption and desorption of oxygen intermediates on the active sites during the reactions, making the electrocatalytic process more efficient. Experimental results demonstrate that the zinc-air battery designed using this strategy exhibits a smaller voltage gap and superior cycling stability.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Luhan Wei, Jianmin Wang, Zhen Zhao, Xi Yang, Sichen Jiao, Feng Cao, Shuai Tang, Xuefeng Zhang, Gaowu Qin, Qinghua Liang, Song Li
Summary: Developing low-cost and efficient oxygen electrocatalysts is crucial for various energy conversion technologies. In this study, a novel strategy was developed to prepare highly active oxygen electrocatalysts for zinc-air batteries, showing impressive performance and providing a simple approach for high-performance metal-air batteries.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chongchao Yao, Jiaxin Li, Zhihao Zhang, Chunli Gou, Zhongshen Zhang, Gang Pan, Jing Zhang
Summary: In this study, a novel core-shell ORR catalyst Co2N/CoP@PNCNTs was developed through a simple method, and it was demonstrated to exhibit excellent electrocatalytic activity and long-term stability in alkaline solution. Co2N/CoP@PNCNTs also showed superior electrochemical performance as an air cathode in Zn-air batteries, with high open circuit potential, maximum power density, specific capacity, and negligible voltage decay.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wenping Fan, Guangda Li
Summary: In this study, a waxberry-like MnS/Ni3S4 composite catalyst was designed and synthesized. The unique structure of this catalyst, with MnS located inside and Ni3S4 wrapped on the surface, exhibited excellent stability during the electrocatalytic process. The synergistic interaction between MnS and Ni3S4 was greatly enhanced by the diffusion staggered region structure formed at the two-phase interface. The MnS/Ni3S4 composites demonstrated high catalytic performance for ORR/OER, with a low overpotential and a high half-wave potential. Additionally, they showed remarkable cycle stability and minimal voltage gap when used as cathode materials in Zn-air batteries.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Feifei Xu, Jianlong Wang, Yanxing Zhang, Wei Wang, Taotao Guan, Ning Wang, Kaixi Li
Summary: A high-efficiency and low-cost bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is designed and fabricated using two-dimensional heterostructure of S/N co-doped carbon nanosheets decorated with ultrafine Ni3S2 quantum dots (Ni3S2-QDs/SNC). The Ni3S2-QDs/SNC heterostructure is formed in situ from Ni3S2 QDs without sulfidation. The S/N co-doped carbon carrier enhances electrical conductivity and creates more active sites for ORR and OER. The Ni3S2-QDs/SNC exhibits better performance than Pt/C and RuO2 as a catalyst for ORR and OER, and the assembled Zn-air battery with Ni3S2-QDs/SNC air cathode shows improved power density, energy density, and stability compared to Pt/C-based Zn-air battery. Density functional theory calculations confirm the enhanced capacities of Ni3S2-QDs/SNC for both ORR and OER.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xiao Xia Wang, Xiaoxuan Yang, Hui Liu, Tao Han, Junhua Hu, Hongbo Li, Gang Wu
Summary: Rechargeable Zn-air batteries are considered a promising future energy source, with recent achievements in efficient oxygen electrocatalysts and air electrodes. Innovations in battery configurations, development of oxygen electrocatalysts, and optimization of air electrode structures can enhance the performance of flexible ZABs.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Bingqian Wang, Guangda Li
Summary: This work discusses the means of improving the electrocatalytic performance of transition-metal sulfides (TMS) and explores ideas for the rational design of high-performance catalysts, including structure engineering, interface engineering, and defect engineering. The performance improvement law between catalyst performance and ZABs and the development direction and prospects of designing high-performance electrocatalysts based on TMS are also discussed.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Lin Wu, Shuxin Li, Lixiang Li, Han Zhang, Lin Tao, Xin Geng, Haiming Yang, Weimin Zhou, Chengguo Sun, Dongying Ju, Baigang An
Summary: In this study, vanadium-doped Co9S8 nanoparticles encapsulated in nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanoflowers were prepared and applied as a bifunctional catalyst for the cathode of a rechargeable zinc-air battery. The catalyst exhibited excellent electrochemical performance, outperforming noble metal catalysts and recent Co-based catalysts.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL
(2023)
Article
Electrochemistry
Chengsi Hu, Jun Chen, Yaqin Wang, Yan Huang, Shitao Wang
Summary: The development of high-efficiency, low-cost, and stable bifunctional catalysts is crucial for the large-scale application of zinc-air batteries. In this study, a telluride-doped porous carbon catalyst was synthesized and exhibited excellent electrocatalytic performance, providing a strategy to enhance the performance of zinc-air batteries.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Shihong Chen, Haowen Ren, Yang Qiu, Chunhui Luo, Qiang Zhao, Wei Yang
Summary: In this study, a flower-like porous carbon material was designed to synthesize Co/Zn/Mn@NC, which showed excellent bifunctional catalytic activity with a half-wave potential of 0.86 V for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and an overpotential of 360 mV for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at 10 mA/cm2. The Zn-Air battery (ZAB) with Co/Zn/Mn@NC-800 exhibited a higher power density of 163 mW/cm2 and a specific capacity of 832 mA h/gZn compared to Pt/C + RuO2. Moreover, the Co/Zn/Mn@NC-800-based ZAB showed superior long-term stability with only a 0.3% decline in efficiency after 534 cycles (>150 h). These results suggest that the synthesized Co/Zn/Mn@NC catalyst has great potential for practical application in ZABs.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Huaipeng Pang, Peipei Sun, Hongyu Gong, Na Zhang, Jinchao Cao, Runhao Zhang, Mingfu Luo, Yong Li, Guanliang Sun, Yuguo Li, Jianlin Deng, Meng Gao, Meng Wang, Biao Kong
Summary: In this study, a convenient method was used to transform natural balsa wood into a layered porous carbon material, FeCo alloy supported on a N, S-doped wood-based carbon aerogel (FeCo@NS-CA) as the cathode in rechargeable flow zinc-air batteries (ZABs). The obtained FeCo@NS-CA with a porous lamellar architecture exhibits superior bifunctional electrocatalysis, including excellent electrochemical activities and superior stabilities, showing potential for energy-related applications.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Qixing Du, Yanmei Gong, Muhammad Arif Khan, Daixin Ye, Jianhui Fang, Hongbin Zhao, Jiujun Zhang
Summary: This paper discusses the research progress in transition metal nitrides as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in zinc-air batteries (ZABs). The surface/interface nanoengineering strategies and physical/chemical properties of TMNs-based electrocatalysts are emphasized. The challenges of TMNs-based materials as bifunctional air-cathode electrocatalysts in practical application are evaluated, and research guidelines are proposed.
GREEN ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuan Rao, Weili Li, Shan Chen, Qin Yue, Yanning Zhang, Yijin Kang
Summary: A vanadium-oxide-based hybrid air electrode with excellent catalytic activity and stability has been developed for rechargeable Zn-air batteries. The V2O3/MnS catalyst exhibits high power density, specific capacity, and energy density, as well as outstanding rechargeability and durability for both liquid-state and all-solid-state Zn-air batteries. Density functional theory calculations provide insights into the intrinsic activity and stability of the V2O3/MnS heterostructure.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xianliang Li, Tingyi Zhou, Zhaoyan Luo, Lei Zhang, Zhiheng Ren, Qianling Zhang, Chuanxin He, Xiantao Jiang, Yongliang Li, Xiangzhong Ren
Summary: A novel high-performance bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst for rechargeable zinc-air batteries is constructed based on bimetal Mn@Co-N-C encapsulated in in situ grown N,S-doped graphitic carbon framework with a porous three-dimensional (3D) structure. The catalyst exhibits a high half-wave potential for oxygen reduction reaction and a low operating overpotential for oxygen evolution reaction. Both liquid electrolyte-based and all-solid-state batteries assembled with this catalyst show excellent charging-discharging performance, long lifetime, and high flexibility.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2023)
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Yu Yang, Shijie Qin, Shijun Liao
Summary: The trajectory of a chaotic dynamical system is sensitive to the initial condition, while its statistics normally do not have sensitive dependence on small disturbances. Such a kind of chaos is called normal-chaos. Recently, a new concept named ultra-chaos has been proposed for the first time. Unlike normal-chaos, the small disturbances lead to large deviation even in statistics for ultra-chaos.
CHAOS SOLITONS & FRACTALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Juan Wang, Manru Liu, Zihao Feng, Jinshuai Liu, Shijun Liao, Xiuhua Li, Yigang Yu
Summary: In the field of seawater desalination, it is crucial to develop a durable anti-fouling electrodialysis anion exchange membrane for systems containing protein. By using a method of double-sided in-situ interpenetrating of a highly conductive ionomer to pre-made anti-fouling Ca-Na alginate films, AEMs with excellent anti-fouling effects and required electro properties for ED applications have been successfully fabricated.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xiankai Pan, Suyun Yu, Jiaxi Zhang, Longhai Zhang, Liming Wang, Huiyu Song, Li Du, Shijun Liao, Zhiming Cui
Summary: A solid-phase seed-mediated diffusion strategy has been developed for the controllable synthesis of ordered L10-PtM nanoparticles. This approach eliminates the need for energy-consuming filtering and washing procedures, making it highly promising for large-scale production.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Diancheng Duan, Shixi Zhong, Junlang Huo, Jiaxiang Chen, Xiudong Shi, Hongliang Peng, Xiuhua Li, Shijun Liao
Summary: This study presents a highly active and durable Co/N co-doped carbon catalyst prepared by pyrolyzing a Co-doped zeolitic-imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). The catalyst showed excellent oxygen reduction reaction performance and only experienced a small decrease in half-wave potential after 5,000 accelerated stress test cycles in an acidic solution. It also demonstrated satisfactory cathodic catalytic performance in a hydrogen/oxygen single proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and a Zn-air battery, achieving high power densities. X-ray absorption spectroscopy and high-angle annular dark field-scanning transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed that the Co in the catalyst existed as single atoms coordinated with N, forming Co-N moieties and leading to high catalytic performance.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jiajun Huang, Tong Yan, Mengli Tao, Weifeng Zhang, Wei Li, Guangli Zheng, Li Du, Zhiming Cui, Xiujun Wang, Shijun Liao, Huiyu Song
Summary: A localized high-concentration electrolyte (LHCE) was designed in this study, which used carbonate as the base solvent, hexafluoroisopropyl methyl ether (HFME) as the diluent, and vinylene carbonate (VC) as the filmogen to achieve a stable solid-solid cyclic process in lithium-sulfur batteries. The use of LHCE significantly improved the cyclic performance and stability of the batteries. Overall, this work provides a universal strategy to enhance the performance of Li-S batteries. Evaluation: 9 points.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ye Peng, Ja-Yeon Choi, Kyoung Bai, Liliang Tian, Shijun Liao, Yi Zhang, Dongchu Chen, Dustin Banham
Summary: Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications need to endure fuel starvation caused by blockage in the flow field. Recent research has shown that the thickness/structure of the anode layer has a significant impact on anode durability. This study focuses on understanding the mechanism behind this improvement and evaluates the effects of anode layer thickness and spatial distribution of Ir within the anode layer. It is found that thin layers or placing Ir near the gas diffusion layer (GDL) interface result in the longest reversal time.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Longhai Zhang, Jiaxi Zhang, Weiquan Tan, Chengzhi Zhong, Yuanhua Tu, Huiyu Song, Li Du, Shijun Liao, Zhiming Cui
Summary: In this article, the authors demonstrated a Ketjen black supported intermetallic Pt(3)Ti nanocatalyst coupled with amorphous TiO x species (Pt3Ti-TiO x /KB). This nanocatalyst can confine Pt(3)Ti NPs together through a strong metal-oxide interaction and promote the water dissociation for generating more OH species, facilitating the conversion of COad. Compared with Pt3Ti/KB and Pt/C, Pt3Ti-TiO x /KB showed significantly enhanced mass activity (2.15 A mg(Pt) (-1)) for the methanol oxidation reaction and presented an impressively high mass activity retention (approximately 71%) after the durability test. This work provides an effective strategy of coupling Pt-based intermetallics with functional oxides to develop highly performed electrocatalysts.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jiajun Huang, Mengli Tao, Weifeng Zhang, Guangli Zheng, Li Du, Zhiming Cui, Xiujun Wang, Zhenxing Liang, Shijun Liao, Huiyu Song
Summary: By designing a solvent-in-salt (SIS) electrolyte with co-solvent vinylene carbonate (VC), a dense cathode electrolyte interface (CEI) is synthesized in situ, changing the sulfur conversion into a solid-solid process and avoiding the shuttle effect. This improves the Coulombic efficiency and cycling performance of lithium-sulfur batteries.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jiaxiang Chen, Jiangbo Dong, Junlang Huo, Chaozhong Li, Li Du, Zhiming Cui, Shijun Liao
Summary: In this study, a simple method for fabricating a high-performance composite catalyst consisting of Pt-Co intermetallic nanoparticles (IMNs) and Co, N co-doped carbon (Co-N-C) is proposed. The composite catalyst exhibits excellent activity and stability towards oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) and methanol oxidation reactions (MOR), delivering outstanding mass activities of 1.96 and 2.92 A mg(Pt)(-1) respectively, due to the synergistic effect of Pt-Co IMNs and Co-N-C film. This research may offer a promising strategy to enhance the electrocatalytic performance of Pt-based catalysts.
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Shijun Liao
Summary: In this paper, the authors use the forced Duffing equation to illustrate that the famous small denominator problems can be completely avoided by using a non-perturbative approach based on the homotopy analysis method (HAM) called the method of directly defining inverse mapping (MDDiM). This method provides a way to define the inverse operator of an undetermined linear operator, effectively avoiding small denominators and obtaining convergent series of multiple limit-cycles. The HAM-based MDDiM has broader applications in mathematics and can be used to tackle many open problems related to small denominators.
ADVANCES IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND MECHANICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Chengzhi Zhong, Jiaxi Zhang, Longhai Zhang, Yuanhua Tu, Li Du, Zhiming Cui, Huiyu Song
Summary: In this study, a class of nitrides prototype of Co3-xFexMo3N (0 < x < 3) electrocatalysts was demonstrated. These nitrides are cost-effective, highly conductive, and have favorable composition flexibility. The optimized Co2.5Fe0.5Mo3N shows a mere overpotential of 218 mV at 10 mA cmgeo -2 and exhibits robust durability over a 90-hour measurement. XPS spectra and DFT calculation reveal that the partial Fe substitution enhances the content of active Co3+ species and upshifts the d band center of the Co site, leading to lower absorption energy of oxygen intermediates and significantly promoting the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Guangli Zheng, Tong Yan, Yifeng Hong, Xiaona Zhang, Jianying Wu, Zhenxing Liang, Zhiming Cui, Li Du, Huiyu Song
Summary: In this study, the authors propose a non-Newtonian fluid quasi-solid electrolyte to address the issues of lithium dendrite growth and liquid electrolyte volatilization in lithium-oxygen batteries, improving their lifespan.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jiaxi Zhang, Jiamin Liu, Longhai Zhang, Jun Ke, Chengzhi Zhong, Yuanhua Tu, Liming Wang, Huiyu Song, Li Du, Zhengguo Zhang, Zhiming Cui
Summary: Modifying antiperovskite nitrides with Fe3+ at the surface can enhance the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity, via increasing the valence state of Ni species and lowering the energy barrier.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shunyi He, Yuanhua Tu, Jiaxi Zhang, Longhai Zhang, Jun Ke, Liming Wang, Li Du, Zhiming Cui, Huiyu Song
Summary: This study investigates an unusual face-centered cubic (fcc) Ru nanocrystal with favorable HER/HOR performance, showing a specific HOR kinetic current density around 20 and 21 times greater than that of hexagonal close-packed (hcp) Ru and Pt/C, respectively. The fcc Ru can enhance the kinetics of alkaline hydrogen electrocatalysis by negatively shifting the d band center and weakening the interaction between catalysts and key intermediates.
