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Active-site and interface engineering of cathode materials for aqueous Zn—gas batteries

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Abstract

Aqueous rechargeable Zn—gas batteries are regarded as promising energy storage and conversion devices due to their high safety and inherent environmental friendliness. However, the energy efficiency and power density of Zn—gas batteries are restricted by the kinetically sluggish cathode reactions, such as oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during charging and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)/carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR)/nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR)/nitric oxide reduction reaction (NORR) during discharge. In this review, battery configurations and fundamental reactions in Zn—gas batteries are first introduced, including Zn—air, Zn-CO2, Zn-N2, and Zn-NO batteries. Afterward, recent advances in active site engineering for enhancing the intrinsic catalytic activities of cathode catalysts are summarized. Subsequently, the structure and surface regulation strategies of cathode materials for optimizing the three-phase interface and improving the performance of Zn—gas batteries are discussed. Finally, some personal perspectives for the future development of Zn—gas batteries are presented.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. LZ21E020003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21905246, 22075211, 21601136, 51971157, and 51621003), and Tianjin Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 19JCJQJC61800).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Wenxian Liu & Jinxiu Feng

  2. Ministry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory of New Processing Technology for Non-Ferrous Metals and Materials, and Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-Ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, School of Resource, Environments, and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

    Tianran Wei & Xijun Liu

  3. Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu, 610106, China

    Qian Liu

  4. College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000, China

    Shusheng Zhang

  5. Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) Domain, Dübendorf, CH-8600, Switzerland

    Yang Luo

  6. Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), Hong Kong, 999077, China

    Yang Luo

  7. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin, 300384, China

    Jun Luo

Authors
  1. Wenxian Liu
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  2. Jinxiu Feng
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  3. Tianran Wei
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  4. Qian Liu
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  5. Shusheng Zhang
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  6. Yang Luo
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  7. Jun Luo
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  8. Xijun Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xijun Liu.

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Liu, W., Feng, J., Wei, T. et al. Active-site and interface engineering of cathode materials for aqueous Zn—gas batteries. Nano Res. 16, 2325–2346 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4929-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4929-7

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