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LaNiO3 modified with Ag nanoparticles as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for rechargeable zinc–air batteries

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Abstract

No-precious bifunctional catalysts with high electrochemical activities and stability were crucial to properties of rechargeable zinc-air batteries. Herein, LaNiO3 modified with Ag nanoparticles (Ag/LaNiO3) was prepared by the co-synthesis method and evaluated as the bifunctional oxygen catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Compared with LaNiO3, Ag/LaNiO3 demonstrated the enhanced catalytic activity towards ORR/OER as well as higher limited current density and lower onset potential. Moreover, the potential gap between ORR potential (at −3 mA·cm−2) and OER potential (at 5 mA·cm−2) was 1.16 V. The maximum power density of the primary zinc-air battery with Ag/LaNiO3 catalyst achieved 60 mW·cm−2. Furthermore, rechargeable zinc-air batteries operated reversible charge-discharge cycles for 150 cycles without noticeable performance deterioration, which showed its excellent bifunctional activity and cycling stability as oxygen electrocatalyst for rechargeable zinc-air batteries. These results indicated that Ag/LaNiO3 prepared by the co-synthesis method was a promising bifunctional catalyst for rechargeable zinc-air batteries.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51372057 and 21373071).

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Correspondence to Zhe Lü.

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Li, P., Tian, C., Yang, W. et al. LaNiO3 modified with Ag nanoparticles as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for rechargeable zinc–air batteries. Front. Mater. Sci. 13, 277–287 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-019-0474-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-019-0474-z

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