Cobalt and Nickel Phosphates as Multifunctional Air-Cathodes for Rechargeable Hybrid Sodium-Air Battery Applications

Cobalt Metaphosphates as Economic Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Hybrid Sodium-Air Batteries

Bifunctional electrocatalysts are pre-eminent to achieve high capacity, cycling stability, and high Coulombic efficiency for rechargeable hybrid sodium-air batteries. The current work introduces metaphosphate (Na)KCo(PO₃)₃ nanostructures as noble metal-free bifunctional electrocatalysts suitable for the rechargeable aqueous sodium-air battery. Prepared by the scalable solution combustion method, the metaphosphate class of (Na)KCo(PO₃)₃ with spherical morphology exhibited robust oxygen reduction as well as evolution activity similar to the state-of-the-art catalysts. NaCo(PO₃)₃ metaphosphate, when employed as an air cathode in hybrid sodium-air batteries, delivered reasonably low overpotential along with excellent cycling stability with a round-trip energy efficiency of 78%. Cobalt metaphosphates thus form a new class of economical bifunctional catalysts to develop hybrid sodium-air batteries.

Developing Iron-Nickel Bimetallic Oxides with Nanocage Structures As High-Performance Bifunctional Catalysts via the Ensemble Effect from Nitrogen Sources

Metal-air batteries will serve as renewable and ecofriendly energy-storage systems in the future because of their high theoretical energy-density performance and unlimited resources, using oxygen as fuel materials compared with commercial lithium-ion batteries. However, the unsuitable inactive reactions at the air-electrode interface (the oxygen reduction reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction) in the metal-air battery are major challenges. In this study, we report nitrogen (N)-doped iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) bimetallic catalysts with a hollow structure (Fe-Ni nanocage) as outstanding bifunctional catalysts, which have not been reported previously. The open structure in the catalysts simultaneously has an active inner cavity and an outer shell; catalysts have a high active surface area, resulting in remarkable electrochemical performance. Furthermore, the electron transfer phenomenon due to the "ensemble effect" generates a higher catalyst activation. Nitrogen has a higher electronegativity than the metal cations, so doped nitrogen sources draw the electron into iron and nickel cations, and the deprived oxidation state of the metal cations accelerates the electrocatalytic performance.

Design Strategies of Transition-Metal Phosphate and Phosphonate Electrocatalysts for Energy-Related Reactions

The key challenge to developing renewable energy conversion and storage devices lies in the exploration and rational engineering of cost-effective and highly efficient electrocatalysts for various energy-related electrochemical reactions. Transition-metal phosphates and phosphonates have shown remarkable performances for these reactions based on their unique physicochemical properties. Compared with transition-metal oxides, phosphate groups in transition-metal phosphates and phosphonates show flexible coordination with diverse orientations, making them an ideal platform for designing active electrocatalysts. Although numerous efforts have been spent on the development of transition-metal phosphate and phosphonate electrocatalysts, some urgent issues, such as low intrinsic catalytic efficiency and low electronic conductivity, have to be resolved in accordance with their applications. In this Review, we focus on the design strategies of highly efficient transition-metal phosphate and phosphonate electrocatalysts, with special emphasis on the tuning of transition-metal-center coordination environment, optimization of electronic structures, increase of catalytically active site densities, and construction of heterostructures. Guided by these strategies, recently developed transition-metal phosphate and phosphonate materials have exhibited excellent activity, selectivity, and stability for various energy-related electrocatalytic reactions, showing great potential for replacing noble-metal-based catalysts in next-generation advanced energy techniques. The existing challenges and prospects regarding these materials are also presented.