Zinc-Air Battery

Bifunctional Catalysts for Zinc-Air Batteries. Rechargeable zinc-air battery (ZAB) can offer three times greater energy density than lithium-ion batteries and requires only low-cost and abundant zinc metal. However, an efficient bifunctional catalyst that is capable of catalyzing oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER) is required during battery discharge and charge operations, respectively. In my previous research, several bifunctional catalysts based on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) and metal oxides such as manganese oxides (β-MnO₂) and lanthanum nickelate (LaNiO₃) were synthesized, and their activities were evaluated in a prototype ZAB. In particular, a bifunctional catalyst was synthesized in a core-corona morphology whereby the NCNT was chemically bound to the surface of the LaNiO₃ nanoparticles (Figure 1). This unique catalyst morphology enabled strong interactions between the ORR (NCNT) and OER (LaNiO₃) active components and significantly reduced charge transfer resistance, which resulted in an excellent bifunctional activity as measured in a prototype ZAB.