Electron Localization in Single Atomic Ga1/PdNi Metallene Boosts Ethylene Glycol Assisted Rechargeable Zn-Air Battery
Lidan Zhu1, Yunrui Li2, Xicheng Lin1
1Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
Abstract:
Alcohol-assisted rechargeable Zn-air batteries (ZAABs) are considered as one of the most promising energy storage devices due to their ultrahigh theoretical energy density and lower overpotential, yet they face the critical issues of the unavoidable COads poisoning and incomplete oxidation behavior. Herein, the concept of holding single atomic alloy catalysts is proposed to strengthen the catalytic ability of Pd-based metallene through implanting the oxyphilic Ga species. The prepared Ga1/PdNiene with unconventional p-d orbital hybridization shows the enhanced ethylene glycol oxdaition reaction (EGOR) performance with achieving excellent mass activity of 1.70 A/mg, 4.86 times higher than commercial Pd/C. Advanced characterizations and theoretical calculations reveal that the oxyphilic Ga site favors the formation of active *OH, accelerating the adsorption of EG molecules via electron localization, consequently promoting the C─C bond-cleavage and oxidation/removal of poisonous COads intermediates. In addition, the ethylene glycol assisted ZAABs based on Ga1/PdNiene exhibits extraordinary power density of 160.3 mW/cm2, 2.59 times higher than that of Pd/C catalyst. More importantly, Ga1/PdNiene demonstrates an ultralong lifespan of 500 h (20 days) at 10 mA/cm2 with negligible performance loss in ZAABs.
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