Trimetallic Oxide Electrocatalyst for Enhanced Redox Activity in Zinc-Air Batteries Evaluated by In Situ Analysis

Researchers are investigating innovative composite materials for renewable energy and energy storage systems. The major goals of this studies are i) to develop a low-cost and stable trimetallic oxide catalyst and ii) to change the electrical environment of the active sites through site-selective Mo substitution. The effect of Mo on NiCoMoO₄ is elucidated using both in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. Also, density functional theory strategies show that NiCoMoO₄ has extraordinary catalytic redox activity because of the high adsorption energy of the Mo atom on the active crystal plane. Further, it is demonstrated that hierarchical nanoflower structures of NiCoMoO₄ on reduced graphene oxide can be employed as a powerful bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction/evolution reactions in alkaline solutions, providing a small overpotential difference of 0.75 V. Also, Zn-air batteries based on the developed bifunctional electrocatalyst exhibit outstanding cycling stability and a high-power density of 125.1 mW cm^-2 . This work encourages the use of Zn-air batteries in practical applications and provides an interesting concept for designing a bifunctional electrocatalyst.