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On the performance of carbon-free zinc-air rechargeable batteries: characterization of some perovskite oxides as catalysts in gas diffusion electrodes

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Abstract

High-capacity rechargeable batteries play an important role at integrating and optimizing the consumption of the energy from renewable sources and the metal-air battery is currently considered the most promising for such applications. Among them, the Zn-air rechargeable battery has attracted considerable attention because of theoretically much higher energy density, lower operational cost, longer cycle life, higher safety, and environmental compatibility. Rechargeability can be improved by developing new bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts that facilitate both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Of the various catalysts, the perovskite-like structured oxides are intensively studied because of their inherent catalytic activity and structural flexibility to adopt large range of cation substitutions. Here, we report on a new design of air electrode using perovskites for the so called “monolithic” carbon-free gas diffusion electrode (GDEs) where the traditional gas diffusion layer made from carbon-based material is avoided and thus the corrosion rate is reduced. The structural details of the employed LSM (La0.80Sr0.20MnO3-δ) and LSCF (La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ) perovskites are addressed. The properties of these oxides are strongly determined by the oxidation states of the constituent cations and their distribution. For improving fundamental understanding of material properties relevant to the rechargeability, sensitive techniques such as neutron and X-ray diffraction combined with scanning electron microscopy were applied. The electrochemical characterization involving volt–ampere characteristics and charge/discharge tests were performed. The results were compared with the state-of-the-art carbon-based GDE and confirmed that the studied catalysts can successfully replace the classical catalysts containing a precious metal and carbon support. The LSM-based GDE demonstrated better electrochemical performance.

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Data availability statement

The data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article, and files with additional and clarifying information are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. This manuscript has associated data in a data repository. [Authors’ comment: LSM as a cathode material has been widely applied to fuel cell devices and electrolyzers, but for energy storage, particularly for metal-air batteries, its electrocatalytic properties are still the subject of interest for many researchers. For details see e.g. [14]. The electrodes described here are manufactured using standard SOFC (cold pressing and sintering) technology, which we have adapted to fabricate GDE for battery and thus improve mechanical stability and eliminate carbon corrosion during charging.]

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support of the Bulgarian National Science Fund under Project: Innovative Rechargeable Carbon-free Zinc-Air Cells (INOVI), GA KP-06-N27-15/14.12.18.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1784, Sofia, Bulgaria

    K. Krezhov & T. Malakova

  2. Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1784, Sofia, Bulgaria

    K. Krezhov

  3. Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    E. Mihaylova-Dimitrova, E. Mladenova, B. Burdin & G. Raikova

  4. Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    P. Tzvetkov

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  1. K. Krezhov
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Correspondence to K. Krezhov.

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Krezhov, K., Malakova, T., Mihaylova-Dimitrova, E. et al. On the performance of carbon-free zinc-air rechargeable batteries: characterization of some perovskite oxides as catalysts in gas diffusion electrodes. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 232, 1637–1643 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-00894-6

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