Scholarlink

<p>Developing efficient non-precious oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts remains a critical challenge. Herein, a direct current (DC) arc plasma strategy was demonstrated to construct nitrogen-doped carbon-coated Ni-ZrC heterostructured nanoparticles ((Ni/ZrC)@NC NPs) with precisely tuned interfacial built-in electric fields (BIEFs). Theoretical studies reveal that the significant work function difference (Δ<i>Φ</i>) drives an asymmetric charge redistribution at the Ni-ZrC heterointerface, shifting d-band centers to optimize the adsorption energy of oxygen intermediates and to reduce reaction energy barriers. <i>In situ</i> optical emission spectroscopy (OES) captures the dynamic plasma evolution (electron temperature (<i>T</i><sub>e</sub>) at local thermal equilibrium (LTE): 10,330.9 K), elucidating real-time atomic/ionic flux variations and formation mechanism of the core-shell structure and heterostructure. The synergistic Ni-ZrC core and N-doped carbon shell cooperatively enhance charge transfer kinetics and expose abundant active sites. The resulting catalyst achieves exceptional ORR activity with a half-wave potential (<i>E</i><sub>1/2</sub>) of 0.82 V, surpassing Pt/C (0.80 V), alongside superior methanol tolerance and 4e<sup>−</sup> selectivity. When deployed in both liquid and all-solid-state flexible zinc-air batteries (FZABs), the catalyst delivers superior metrics: peak power densities of 251.63 mW cm<sup>−2</sup> (liquid) and 184.22 mW cm<sup>−2</sup> (flexible), and stable operation for a long time. This work establishes a paradigm for manipulating interfacial electronic structures via BIEFs engineering, providing a versatile platform for high-performance energy conversion technologies.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Interfacial electric field engineering in Ni-ZrC heterostructures for high-efficiency zinc-air batteries

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月4日

查看全文
  • Enmin Lv,
  • Jiefeng Diao,
  • Yilong Wang,
  • Hongtao Yu,
  • Graeme Henkelman,
  • Hao Zhang,
  • Xuefeng Zhang,
  • Xinglong Dong

摘要

Developing efficient non-precious oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts remains a critical challenge. Herein, a direct current (DC) arc plasma strategy was demonstrated to construct nitrogen-doped carbon-coated Ni-ZrC heterostructured nanoparticles ((Ni/ZrC)@NC NPs) with precisely tuned interfacial built-in electric fields (BIEFs). Theoretical studies reveal that the significant work function difference (ΔΦ) drives an asymmetric charge redistribution at the Ni-ZrC heterointerface, shifting d-band centers to optimize the adsorption energy of oxygen intermediates and to reduce reaction energy barriers. In situ optical emission spectroscopy (OES) captures the dynamic plasma evolution (electron temperature (Te) at local thermal equilibrium (LTE): 10,330.9 K), elucidating real-time atomic/ionic flux variations and formation mechanism of the core-shell structure and heterostructure. The synergistic Ni-ZrC core and N-doped carbon shell cooperatively enhance charge transfer kinetics and expose abundant active sites. The resulting catalyst achieves exceptional ORR activity with a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.82 V, surpassing Pt/C (0.80 V), alongside superior methanol tolerance and 4e− selectivity. When deployed in both liquid and all-solid-state flexible zinc-air batteries (FZABs), the catalyst delivers superior metrics: peak power densities of 251.63 mW cm−2 (liquid) and 184.22 mW cm−2 (flexible), and stable operation for a long time. This work establishes a paradigm for manipulating interfacial electronic structures via BIEFs engineering, providing a versatile platform for high-performance energy conversion technologies.