Bimetallic Modified N‐Doped Carbon Nanofibers as Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalysts in Rechargeable Zn‐Air Battery
Carbon nanofibers (CNFs), featuring interconnected network characteristics, have attracted considerable attention as electrocatalyst supports due to their tunable morphology, high specific surface area, and abundant porous structure. However, their practical application is still limited by insufficient intrinsic activity. Herein, we successfully prepared cobalt (Co) and molybdenum (Mo) co‐embedded nitrogen‐doped porous carbon nanofibers (a‐Co/Mo@NCNFs) as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts via electrospinning followed by high‐temperature pyrolysis. The introduction of Mo as an electronic modulator can tailor the electronic structure of Co sites, thereby optimizing the adsorption/desorption behavior of oxygen‐containing intermediates. Meanwhile, the hierarchical porous architecture facilitates rapid mass/electron transport and maximizes the exposure of catalytic sites. The optimized a‐Co/Mo@NCNFs catalyst exhibits outstanding bifunctional electrocatalytic activity, delivering a half‐wave potential of 0.831 V for oxygen reduction reaction and a low overpotential of 371 mV at 10 mA cm −2 for oxygen evolution reaction. Notably, Zn‐air battery based on the catalyst achieved higher open circuit voltage and power density than the benchmark Pt/C+RuO 2 system, demonstrating its great potential as an efficient and durable alternative for energy conversion and storage applications.
Authors
- Hui Peng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7297-1733)
- Yuxi Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0318-8515)
- Aoji Liang
- Quanyu Wen
- Guofu Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7768-4533)
- Chen Wang
- Imran Shakir
- Xuan Xie
Institutions
- Westlake University (CN)
- Islamic University of Madinah (SA)
- Northwest Normal University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Batteries & Supercaps
- Published
- 2026-07-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/batt.70416
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00