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Updated: Jul 9, 2025
Simple Methods for the Preparation of Non-noble Metal Bulk-electrodes for Electrocatalytic Applications
Published on: June 21, 2017
Constructing molecule-metal relay catalysis over heterophase metallene for high-performance rechargeable
Jingwen Zhou1,2,3, Yuecheng Xiong1,2, Mingzi Sun4
1Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China.
Abstract:
Zinc-nitrate batteries can integrate energy supply, ammonia electrosynthesis, and sewage disposal into one electrochemical device. However, current zinc-nitrate batteries still severely suffer from the limited energy density and poor rechargeability. Here, we report the synthesis of tetraphenylporphyrin (tpp)-modified heterophase (amorphous/crystalline) rhodium-copper alloy metallenes (RhCu M-tpp). Using RhCu M-tpp as a bifunctional catalyst for nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) and ethanol oxidation reaction in neutral solution, a highly rechargeable and low-overpotential zinc-nitrate/ethanol battery is successfully constructed, which exhibits outstanding energy density of 117364.6 Wh kg-1cat, superior rate capability, excellent cycling stability of ~400 cycles, and potential ammonium acetate production. Ex/in situ experimental studies and theoretical calculations reveal that there is a molecule-metal relay catalysis in NO3RR over RhCu M-tpp that significantly facilitates the ammonia selectivity and reaction kinetics via a low energy barrier pathway. This work provides an effective design strategy of multifunctional metal-based catalysts toward the high-performance zinc-based hybrid energy systems.
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