Electrostatic Potential–Guided Synergy in Atomic Pairs Enables Highly Efficient Oxygen Bifunctional Catalysis

Abstract Improving the bifunctional performance of oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER) at the air cathode is critical for the development of rechargeable zinc–air batteries (RZABs). Dual‐atom catalysts (DACs), consisting of diatomic pairs, present a promising solution, but establishing a clear correlation between their electronic structure synergy and bifunctional ORR/OER activities remains challenging. Herein, it is uncovered that the strength of the electronic structure interaction between Fe and M sites (where M═Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) embedded in a nitrogen‐doped carbon (Fe─M─NC) can be effectively quantified using electrostatic potential (ESP). This interaction exhibits a volcano‐type relationship when plotted against the binding free energy differences of * OOH and * O intermediates (ΔG *O –ΔG *OOH for ORR; ΔG *OOH –ΔG *O for OER), which aligns with the overpotential trend. Specifically, the Fe─Ni─NC catalyst, exhibiting the highest ESP, occupies the peak position of the volcano curve, accelerating the * OOH─ * O interconversion and thereby minimizing the ORR/OER energy barrier. Experimental results confirm that the Fe─Ni─NC demonstrates the lowest potential gap (Δ E = 0.57 V), outperforming the commercial Pt/C+RuO 2 (Δ E = 0.66 V) and other Fe─M─NC. Furthermore, aqueous and solid‐state RZABs with Fe─Ni─NC show exceptionally low charge/discharge voltage fluctuations of 50 and 350 µV h −1 , respectively, after continuous operation for 600 and 300 h.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2025-12-31
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202529013
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Electrostatic Potential–Guided Synergy in Atomic Pairs Enables Highly Efficient Oxygen Bifunctional Catalysis

Minghua Huang, Canhui Zhang, Kaiyue Chen, Xianbiao Hou et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
article

Electrostatic Potential–Guided Synergy in Atomic Pairs Enables Highly Efficient Oxygen Bifunctional Catalysis

Minghua Huang, Canhui Zhang, Kaiyue Chen, Xianbiao Hou, Tengjia Ni, W. Tian, X.K. Wang, Huanlei Wang, Heqing Jiang, Wenxiao Jiang, Jian Zhou, Liangliang Xu
article en

Abstract

Abstract Improving the bifunctional performance of oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER) at the air cathode is critical for the development of rechargeable zinc–air batteries (RZABs). Dual‐atom catalysts (DACs), consisting of diatomic pairs, present a promising solution, but establishing a clear correlation between their electronic structure synergy and bifunctional ORR/OER activities remains challenging. Herein, it is uncovered that the strength of the electronic structure interaction between Fe and M sites (where M═Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) embedded in a nitrogen‐doped carbon (Fe─M─NC) can be effectively quantified using electrostatic potential (ESP). This interaction exhibits a volcano‐type relationship when plotted against the binding free energy differences of * OOH and * O intermediates (ΔG *O –ΔG *OOH for ORR; ΔG *OOH –ΔG *O for OER), which aligns with the overpotential trend. Specifically, the Fe─Ni─NC catalyst, exhibiting the highest ESP, occupies the peak position of the volcano curve, accelerating the * OOH─ * O interconversion and thereby minimizing the ORR/OER energy barrier. Experimental results confirm that the Fe─Ni─NC demonstrates the lowest potential gap (Δ E = 0.57 V), outperforming the commercial Pt/C+RuO 2 (Δ E = 0.66 V) and other Fe─M─NC. Furthermore, aqueous and solid‐state RZABs with Fe─Ni─NC show exceptionally low charge/discharge voltage fluctuations of 50 and 350 µV h −1 , respectively, after continuous operation for 600 and 300 h.

Advanced Functional Materials
University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras (PR), Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (CN), Ocean University of China (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 51%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
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