Sulfur-Induced Growth of Coordination Polymer Derived-Straight Carbon Nanotubes on Carbon Nanofiber Network for Zn-Air Batteries

Low-cost heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials have been widely studied for efficient oxygen reduction reaction and energy storage and conversion in metal-air batteries. A Masson pine twigs-like 3-dimensional network construction of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with abundant straight long Co, N, and S-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is developed by thermal treatment of Co-based polymer coated onto polyacrylonitrile nanofiber network together with thiourea at 900 degrees C, denoted as CNFT-Co9S8-900. It is interesting to note that the introduction of a high concentration of sulfur does not lead to the complete toxicity of catalysts, but promotes the axial growth to selectively form straight CNTs instead of curly bamboo-like CNTs. The highly graphitized in-situ grown Co, N, S-doped CNTs and the 3-dimensional N-doped CNF network provide both active catalytic sites and highly conductive paths, which are beneficial for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Thus, the optimal CNFT-Co9S8-900 performs the excellent ORR catalytic activity with a half-wave potential of 0.84 V and a diffusion-limited current density of 5.49 mA cm(-2). Furthermore, the CNFT-Co9S8-900-based Zn-air devices also possess a high power density of 136.9 mW cm(-2) better than commercial Pt/C.

Automated summary

Low-cost heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials have been studied for efficient oxygen reduction reaction and energy storage. A 3-dimensional network structure of carbon nanofibers with Co, N, and S-doped carbon nanotubes has been developed, showing excellent catalytic activity in the ORR process.