Oxygen Electrocatalysts for Zinc-Air Batteries and Fuel Cells
This community develops catalysts that speed up the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, which are the chemical bottlenecks in rechargeable zinc-air batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.
The work centers on designing bifunctional electrocatalysts that handle both the charging and discharging processes. Recurring materials include nitrogen-doped porous carbon, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, often modified with single-atom or dual-atom sites of earth-abundant metals like iron, cobalt, and nickel. Specific structures such as Fe-N-C sites, high-entropy alloys, and metal-organic frameworks are frequently engineered to enhance activity and stability. The primary applications named in the titles are rechargeable zinc-air batteries and fuel cells, with a secondary focus on microbial fuel cells.
The largest share of the community's output is found in oxygen research, accounting for 3.0% of all oxygen-related papers tracked, and carbon research, which represents 1.5% of carbon-related papers. This community comprises 20,992 papers, publishing most frequently in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Electrochimica Acta, and the Journal of Power Sources.
Recent work continues to focus on atomic-level engineering, such as dual-atom sites and high-entropy intermetallics supported on nitrogen-doped carbon, specifically to improve the efficiency and durability of oxygen reduction in zinc-air batteries.