Publication date: 15th December 2025
The increasing demand for efficient and sustainable energy storage systems, driven by the need to decouple energy production peaks from consumption and by the electrification of heavy transportation, has highlighted the potential of Zn-O₂ batteries. These batteries offer an energy density up to three times higher than that of conventional Li-ion batteries, making them a promising alternative to fossil fuels for air and waterborne transport applications.
Despite their advantages, Zn-O₂ batteries face significant challenges, including limited cyclability, component instability, the high cost of organic electrolytes, and dependence on bifunctional catalysts based on precious group metals or cobalt. Overcoming these limitations requires the development of efficient and sustainable bifunctional catalysts for both the oxygen reduction reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction.
This study focuses on the synthesis of Fe-based bifunctional catalysts using iron chlorides as precursors via a sol-gel method, incorporating surfactants and urea as a nitrogen source. Unlike previous studies in which Fe compounds were mainly investigated as complementary or secondary catalysts, this work evaluates their performance as standalone bifunctional catalysts.
The Fe-based catalysts were synthesized at low temperatures and supported on Ni foam. Structural characterization using FTIR and XRD confirmed successful nitrogen incorporation into their structure. Electrochemical testing demonstrated excellent long-term stability, with sustained charge and discharge cycling and no observable degradation or passivation over more than 4000 hours of operation. Furthermore, the catalysts exhibited high selectivity for both the oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions, while offering reduced environmental impact and lower cost compared to commercial alternatives.
This work represents a significant step toward the development of cost-effective and environmentally friendly Zn–O₂ batteries, enhancing their potential for large-scale and real-world energy storage applications.
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