Two-Dimensional Co/Co9S8 Nanoparticles Decorated N, S Dual-Doped Carbon Composite as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Zinc-Air Battery

Substituting costly Pt-based oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with highly active and stable non-precious metal catalysts is a great challenge in zinc-air batteries. Herein, we fabricated Co/Co 9 S 8 nanoparticles decorated nitrogen, sulfur dual-doped carbon leaves (Co/Co 9 S 8 -NCL) with outstanding ORR performance by pyrolysis of dithiooxamide (DTO) molecule modified two-dimensional (2D) leaf-shaped zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-L). The functionality of DTO simultaneously optimizes 2D nanostructure and component (S doping) by the confinement effect due to the coordination interaction between S atoms of DTO and Co 2+ in ZIF-L. Benefiting from the synergistic effect between Co-N x sites and Co/Co 9 S 8 species coupled with unique two-dimensional N, S-codoped carbon leaves, the resulting Co/Co 9 S 8 -NCL-30 exhibits a remarkable ORR activity with a half-wave potential of 0.852 V comparable to Pt/C (0.843 V) and outstanding long-term stability. Impressively, the Zn-air battery with Co/Co 9 S 8 -NCL-30 achieves high power density of 112 mW cm −2 and specific capacity of 799 mAh g −1 Zn . This work will present a new pathway to prepare highly active and durable 2D transition metal-based carbon nanomaterials in zinc-air batteries.