Hollow Capsule NiCo₂ NS Prepared by Self-Sacrificing Template Method for High-Efficiency Bifunctional Catalyst and...

Exploring the application of high-efficiency bifunctional oxygen catalysts to rechargeable zinc-air batteries has been a research hotspot in recent years. We succeeded in obtaining NiCo₂ NS with a hollow capsule structure through the self-sacrificing template method, which has a larger specific surface area and can provide more active sites for electrocatalysis relative to his solid. The introduction of S can change the valence distribution of N and the electronic structure of the M-N bond, so that NiCo₂ NS exhibits excellent performance in the overpotential and stability of the oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions. It shows an overpotential of 154 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 and a half-wave potential of 0.76 V. When used as a bi-functional catalyst in zinc-air batteries, it exhibits good stability within 400 h. The flexible battery assembled by NiCo₂ NS also shows excellent performance, and can be cycled stably for 20 h. The current maintains good stability when it is bent at different angles during the cycle.