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Porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets composite Fe 3 C synthesized by molten salt-mediated template method as efficient ORR catalyst for zinc-air batteries

• Original Article
• Published: 06 September 2024

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• Qing Long 1   na1 ,
• Qianqi Wu 1   na1 ,
• Zhiming Wen 1 ,
• Wei Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4617-2943 1 ,
• Chen Li 1 ,
• Huichuan Tang 1 ,
• Haitao Wang 2 ,
• Junlin Huang 1 ,
• Liang Chen 1 ,
• Gangyong Li 1 &
• Wenyuan Xu 1  

Considering the intrinsic activity of non-precious metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts is typically lower than that of precious metal catalysts, it is crucial to focus on the rational design of their micro-morphology and active site. This paper employed a simple molten salt-mediated template method to fabricate a Fe 3 C composite N-doped C catalyst with a layered porous framework (Fe 3 C@NC). Tannic acid was utilized to form a strong coordination with iron to limit the grain size of Fe 3 C nanocrystals generated by high-temperature pyrolysis. Moreover, urea achieved nitrogen doping in tannic acid-derived porous carbon, while the graphite phase nitrogen-doped carbon (g-C 3 N 4 ) formed by its pyrolysis, together with the molten salt-mediated environment, jointly controlled the two-dimensional sheet-like structure of the material. The optimized Fe 3 C@NC-800 demonstrated efficient ORR performance, with an ORR half-wave potential of 0.883 V. Its application as a cathode catalyst in a liquid zinc-air battery (ZABs) exhibits a maximum power density of 211.5 mW cm −2 , surpassing that of a Pt/C-based ZAB and indicating the potential practical utility of this material.

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MOF-derived three-dimensional ordered porous carbon nanomaterial for efficient alkaline zinc-air batteries

Cubic imidazolate frameworks-derived CoFe alloy nanoparticles-embedded N-doped graphitic carbon for discharging reaction of Zn-air battery

Hierarchical peony-like FeCo-NC with conductive network and highly active sites as efficient electrocatalyst for rechargeable Zn-air battery

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52104301, 52204311), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (Grant Nos. 2023JJ50043, 2023JJ30280, 2024JJ4022, 2023JJ30277), Science & Technology talents lifting project of Hunan Province (Grant No. 2022TJ-N16).

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Qing Long and Qianqi Wu have contributed equally to this work.

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Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Advanced Carbon-Based Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Science and Technology, Yueyang, 414006, People’s Republic of China

Qing Long, Qianqi Wu, Zhiming Wen, Wei Wang, Chen Li, Huichuan Tang, Junlin Huang, Liang Chen, Gangyong Li & Wenyuan Xu

School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Novel Catalytic Materials of Hubei Engineering Research Center, Engineering Research Center of Phosphorus Resources Development andUtilization of Ministry of Education, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, People’s Republic of China

Haitao Wang

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Correspondence to Wei Wang , Liang Chen or Wenyuan Xu .

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Long, Q., Wu, Q., Wen, Z. et al. Porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets composite Fe 3 C synthesized by molten salt-mediated template method as efficient ORR catalyst for zinc-air batteries. Carbon Lett. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-024-00802-5

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Received : 28 June 2024

Revised : 16 August 2024

Accepted : 28 August 2024

Published : 06 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-024-00802-5

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