Fe/Ce Dual‐Atom Engineering to Break the Activity‐Stability Trade‐Off for Ultra‐Stable Zinc‐Air Batteries
ABSTRACT To address the stability limitations of conventional Fe─N─C catalysts caused by H 2 O 2 byproducts and reactive oxygen species (ROS), an innovative dual‐metal single‐atom synergistic strategy is developed, resulting in the fabrication of a hierarchically porous hollow carbon fiber catalyst co‐anchored with Fe and Ce dual‐atom sites (FeCe DAC/HCNF). The catalyst features an interconnected network of hollow channels and carbon nanocages, forming a hierarchical micro/mesoporous structure (specific surface area: 935.24 m 2 g −1 ) that enhances mass transport efficiency and maximizes exposure of active sites. The dual‐atom site is developed to achieve a “kill two birds with one stone” effect: Ce single‐atom sites adjacent to Fe centers not only effectively scavenge ROS and decompose H 2 O 2 , but also modulate the Fe centers, thereby synergistically enhancing the intrinsic ORR activity while mitigating carbon matrix degradation. The FeCe DAC/HCNF catalyst exhibits exceptional electrochemical performance and stability in both alkaline and acidic media. When integrated into zinc‐air batteries, it achieves superior device performance compared to Fe─N─C catalysts, with a remarkable cycling durability of 2300 cycles (∼1100 h of stable operation). This work breaks the traditional activity‐stability trade‐off of catalysts, providing a novel pathway for developing high‐durability zinc‐air batteries.
Authors
- Zhijun Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4229-1312)
- Jingwen Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3423-6201)
- Junbin Li
- Jiaqi Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0215-7175)
- Xiang Li
Institutions
- Sinopec (China) (CN)
- Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Processing
- China University of Mining and Technology - Beijing
Publication Details
- Journal
- Small
- Published
- 2026-09-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.76029
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00