Double-Confinement Construction of Atomically-Dispersed-Fe Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalyst for High-Performance Zinc-Air Battery

Simultaneously achieving high activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the key to constructing rechargeable Zn-air batteries (ZABs). Here the complexation of 1,10-phenanthroline and the spatial confinement effect of closo-[B12H12](2-) are used to solidify metal-boron-cluster-organic-polymers on the surface of SiO2 microspheres to construct a bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst (FeBCN/NHCS). Driven by FeBCN/NHCS, the half-wave-potential of ORR surpasses that of the Pt/C catalyst, reaching 0.893 V versus RHE, and the overpotential (& eta;(10)) of OER is as low as 361 mV. The ZABs of FeBCN/NHCS as an air cathode not only have high power density and specific capacity, but also have charge-discharge durability. The FeBCN/NHCS is not only related to the high specific surface area, but also the high exposure rate of single-atom Fe and the doping of heteroatom B. This study provides an efficient oxygen electrocatalyst and also contributes wisdom to the acquisition of highly active oxygen electrocatalyst.