Covalent Dangling of Poly‐Indium‐Phthalocyanine Over Carbon Nanopits as Superior Oxygen Reduction Catalyst for Flexible Zn‐Air Battery
Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) represents a cornerstone in renewable energy technologies such as Zn-air batteries, yet its sluggish kinetics and reliance on noble metal catalysts remain critical bottlenecks. Here, we report an ingenious catalyst configured by covalently dangling poly-indium-phthalocyanine onto carbon nanopit defects in carbon nanotubes (InPPc/v-CNTs). This architecture induces axial In-C coordination that disrupts the symmetric electron distribution of the planar In-N<sub>4</sub> center and strengthens electronic metal-support interactions. Theoretical calculations reveal that this distorted electronic environment enhances O<sub>2</sub> adsorption/dissociation kinetics while weakening the *OH desorption energy barrier, thereby synergistically boosting ORR kinetics. Benefiting from the tailored electronic structure and optimized metal-support configuration, InPPc/v-CNTs exhibits both superb ORR activity and stability, with a half-wave potential up to 0.90 V vs RHE and a kinetic current density of 42.9 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> (>10-fold higher than the Pt/C benchmark). Moreover, in aqueous Zn-air batteries, it delivers a remarkable power density of 270 mW cm<sup>-2</sup> and a discharge stability up to 865 h at 5 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. This work transcends conventional catalyst design by unifying defect engineering, electronic asymmetry, and macromolecular stabilization into a cohesive framework, establishing a new paradigm for metal phthalocyanine-based ORR catalysts.
Authors
- Na Jin
- Chi‐Feng Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5487-4809)
- Hsiao‐Tsu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1249-9462)
- Chih‐Wen Pao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7681-4391)
- Jinjie Qian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9996-7929)
- Lili Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0817-7372)
- Yi Feng Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6318-8010)
- Hailin Jiang
- Chun‐Han Hsu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1250-6223)
- Hui Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8183-9446)
- Jianwei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5749-0085)
- Linjie Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3011-3834)
Institutions
- Tamkang University (TW)
- Tianjin University of Technology (CN)
- Wenzhou University (CN)
- Tianjin University (CN)
- National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (TW)
- Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2025-12-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202522225
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.73