Performance of iron-air battery with iron nanoparticle-encapsulated C–N composite electrode

Abstract

Highly efficient and stable iron electrodes are of great significant to the development of iron-air battery (IAB). In this paper, iron nanoparticle-encapsulated C–N composite (NanoFe@CN) was synthesized by pyrolysis using polyaniline as the C–N source. Electrochemical performance of the NanoFe@CN in different electrolytes (alkaline, neutral, and quasi-neutral) was investigated via cyclic voltammetry (CV). The IAB was assembled with NanoFe@CN as the anode and IrO₂ + Pt/C as the cathode. The effects of different discharging/charging current densities and electrolytes on the battery performance were also studied. Neutral K₂SO₄ electrolyte can effectively suppress the passivation of iron electrode, and the battery showed a good cycling stability during 180 charging/discharging cycles. Compared to the pure nano-iron (NanoFe) battery, the NanoFe@CN battery has a more stable cycling stability either in KOH or NH₄Cl + KCl electrolyte.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

energy storage and conversion / metallic composites / nanocomposites / iron-air battery / iron anode

References

[1] Hang B T, Thang D H. Electrochemical properties of Fe₂O₃ microparticles and their application in Fe/air battery anodes. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2016, 655: 44–49

[2] Chawla N. Recent advances in air-battery chemistries. Materials Today. Chemistry, 2019, 12: 324–331

[3] Tan W K, Asami K, Maeda Y. . Facile formation of Fe₃O₄-particles decorated carbon paper and its application for all-solid-state rechargeable Fe-air battery. Applied Surface Science, 2019, 486: 257–264

[4] Tan W K, Asami K, Maegawa K. . Fe₃O₄-embedded rGO composites as anode for rechargeable FeO_x-air batteries. Materials Today. Communications, 2020, 25: 101540

[5] McKerracher R D, Figueredo-Rodriguez H A, Alegre C. . Improving the stability and discharge capacity of nanostructured Fe₂O₃/C anodes for iron-air batteries and investigation of 1-octhanethiol as an electrolyte additive. Electrochimica Acta, 2019, 318: 625–634

[6] Hang B T, Thang D H, Kobayashi E. Fe/carbon nanofiber composite materials for Fe-air battery anodes. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 2013, 704: 145–152

[7] Trinh T A, Bui T H. α-Fe₂O₃ urchins synthesized by a facile hydrothermal route as an anode for an Fe-air battery. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 2020, 29(2): 1245–1252

[8] Chen A, Yi Q, Sheng K. . Mesoporous N–P codoped carbon nanosheets as superior cathodic catalysts of neutral metal-air batteries. Langmuir, 2021, 37(43): 12616–12628

[9] Manohar A K, Malkhandi S, Yang B. . A high-performance rechargeable iron electrode for large-scale battery-based energy storage. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2012, 159(8): A1209–A1214

[10] Manohar A K, Yang C, Malkhandi S. . Enhancing the performance of the rechargeable iron electrode in alkaline batteries with bismuth oxide and iron sulfide additives. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2013, 160(11): A2078–A2084

[11] Kitamura H, Zhao L, Hang B T. . Effect of charge current density on electrochemical performance of Fe/C electrodes in alkaline solutions. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2012, 159(6): A720–A724

[12] Hang B T, Thang D H, Nga N T. . Nanoparticle Fe₂O₃-loaded carbon nanofibers as iron-air battery anodes. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2013, 160(9): A1442–A1445

[13] Ito A, Zhao L, Okada S. . Synthesis of nano-Fe₃O₄-loaded tubular carbon nanofibers and their application as negative electrodes for Fe/air batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 2011, 196(19): 8154–8159

[14] Rajan A S, Sampath S, Shukla A K. An in situ carbon-grafted alkaline iron electrode for iron-based accumulators. Energy & Environmental Science, 2014, 7(3): 1110–1116

[15] McKerracher R D, de Leon C P, Wills R G A. . A review of the iron-air secondary battery for energy storage. ChemPlusChem, 2015, 80(2): 323–335

[16] Long N V, Yang Y, Thi C M. . Controlled synthesis and characterization of iron oxide micro-particles for Fe-air battery electrode material. Colloid & Polymer Science, 2015, 293(1): 49–63

[17] Bui H T, Vu T M. Hydrothermal preparation of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles for Fe-air battery anodes. Journal of Electronic Materials, 2019, 48(11): 7123–7130

[18] Tan W K, Asami K, Maegawa K. . Formation of Fe-embedded graphitic carbon network composites as anode materials for rechargeable Fe-air batteries. Energy Storage, 2020, 2(6): e196

[19] Matsuda A, Sakamoto H, Kishimoto T. . Preparation of hydroxide ion conductive KOH–ZrO₂ electrolyte for all-solid state iron/air secondary battery. Solid State Ionics, 2014, 262: 188–191

[20] Díaz S, Calderón J, Barcia O. . Electrodeposition of iron in sulphate solutions. Electrochimica Acta, 2008, 53(25): 7426–7435

[21] Wang Y, Yi R, Chen A. . Hollow carbon sphere and polyhedral carbon composites supported iron nanoparticles as excellent bifunctional electrocatalysts of Zn-air battery. Energy Technology, 2022, 10(5): 2200057

[22] Li Z, Wu X, Jiang X. . Surface carbon layer controllable Ni₃Fe particles confined in hierarchical N-doped carbon framework boosting oxygen evolution reaction. Advanced Powder Materials, 2022, 1(2): 100020

[23] Li T, Hu Y, Liu K. . Hollow yolk-shell nanoboxes assembled by Fe-doped Mn₃O₄ nanosheets for high-efficiency electrocatalytic oxygen reduction in Zn-air battery. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 427: 131992

[24] Fang C, Yi Q, Chen A. . Fabrication of FeCo/multidimensional carbon-based nanocomposites as excellent cathodic catalysts of Zn-air battery. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2022, 169(11): 110538

[25] Li G L, Liu C D, Yuan L F. . Facile synthesis of efficient core-shell structured iron-based carbon catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2018, 43(3): 1386–1395

[26] Sheng K, Yi Q, Chen A L. . CoNi nanoparticles supported on N-doped bifunctional hollow carbon composites as high-performance ORR/OER catalysts for rechargeable Zn-air batteries. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2021, 13(38): 45394–45405

[27] Liu Z, Ye D, Zhu X. . ZIF-67-derived Co nanoparticles embedded in N-doped porous carbon composite interconnected by MWCNTs as highly efficient ORR electrocatalysts for a flexible direct formate fuel cell. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 432: 134192

[28] Wang Y, Liu M, Zhang Y. . All-solid-state synthesis of high-performance electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction derived from g-C₃N₄ and cobalt phthalocyanine. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2022, 9(30): 2201330

[29] Figueredo-Rodríguez H A, Mckerracher R D, Insausti M. . Rechargeable, aqueous iron air battery with nanostructured electrodes capable of high energy density operation. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2017, 164(6): A1148–A1157

[30] Černý J, Micka K. Voltammetric study of an iron electrode in alkaline electrolytes. Journal of Power Sources, 1989, 25(2): 111–122

[31] He Z, Xiong F, Tan S. . Iron metal anode for aqueous rechargeable batteries. Materials Today. Advances, 2021, 11: 100156

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22379042 and 21875062) and the Research and Development Planning Projects in Key Areas of Hunan Province (Grant No. 2019GK2034).

Competing interests

The author declare that they have no competing interests.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material includes chemical reagent specifications and sources, test instrumentation, preparation of catalysts NanoFe@CN and IAB, electrolyte changes before and after IAB testing and the content of different elements in NanoFe@CN, which is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0913-5 and is accessible for authorized users.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2023 Higher Education Press 2023