Nitrogen/sulfur dual-doped porous carbon nanofibers with Co9S8 nanoparticles encapsulated by graphitic shells: A highly active stable free-standing air electrode for rechargeable non-aqueous Li-O2 batteries and primary alkaline Al-air batteries

By Cao, Yuan; Lu, Huimin; Xu, Binbin; Yang, Wenwen; Hong, Qingshui
Published in Chemical Engineering Journal 2019

Abstract

The rational design of economical air cathodes or electrocatalysts with high electrocatalytic activity and durability for both non-aqueous lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) and alkaline electrolyte aluminum-air (Al-air) batteries is a critical factor for promoting the practical applications. Herein, we report the fabrication of graphitic layers covered with Co9S8 nanoparticles immobilized inside N,S dual-doped hierarchical porous carbon nanofibers by a facile and one-step electrospinning method combined with a pyrolytic process. When employed as free-standing electrodes for a Li-O2 battery and an Al-air battery, the as-prepared Co9S8@G/NS-PCNFs deliver excellent battery performances and afford comparable catalytic performance as that of a 20 wt% Pt/C electrode. The results show that the superior battery performance of the Co9S8@G/NS-PCNF cathode can be attributed to the synergistic effect between the catalytic behavior of the uniformly distributed Co9S8 nanoparticles and the textural properties of the N,S dual-doped hierarchical porous carbon nanofibers. Our findings open a new direction for designing nonprecious hybrid metal sulfide carbon architectures to replace costly Pt/C electrodes and indicate their promising application in next-generation metal-air batteries.

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