Engineering Gd2O3-Ni heterostructure for efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalysis via the electronic reconfiguration and adsorption optimization of intermediates

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2022-04, Vol.433, p.134597, Article 134597
• Main Authors: Li, Jiajia, Sun, Lixin, Wang, Xueying, Li, Ling, Zhu, Qiancheng, Ouyang, Bo, Kan, Erjun, Zhang, Wenming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Gd2O3-Ni heterostructure; Oxygen reduction; Zinc-air battery
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2022.134597

[Display omitted] •A simple yet effective sol gel strategy to form Gd2O3-Ni/CNT hybrids.•Gd2O3-Ni/CNT endows excellent ORR performance.•Superior property is resulted from the electronic reconfiguration of Gd2O3 and Ni.•The as-prepared electrode exhibits high power density and capacity in ZAB. A 3D nano-aerogel electrocatalyst is produced based on metal Ni combined with Gd2O3 species through a facile hydrogel route. The synthetic method hinges on the fabrication of oxidized carbon nanotubes (OCNTs) crosslinked poly (vinyl alcohol) to form hydrogel, which permits effective catch of highly active Gd2O3/Ni particles after pyrolysis. The designed Gd2O3-Ni heterostructure on carbon nanotubes (Gd2O3-Ni/CNT) is highly efficient for oxygen reduction electrocatalysis. It is found that the half-wave potential (E1/2) of Gd2O3-Ni/CNT is nearly 190 mV positive than that of Ni/CNT and even surpasses the commercial Pt/C. The superior performance is resulted from the electronic reconfiguration between Gd2O3 and Ni in the heterostructure, which further optimized the adsorption of intermediates to balance the binding of OOH* and OH* on the surface of Gd2O3-Ni and break the OOH*–OH* scaling relation. Finally, the assembled zinc-air battery with Gd2O3-Ni/CNT as electrocatalyst achieves high capacity.