Ag-Cu nanoalloyed film as a high-performance cathode electrocatalytic material for zinc-air battery

Abstract

A novel Ag50Cu50 film electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. The electrocatalyst actually is Ag-Cu alloyed nanoparticles embedded in amorphous Cu film, based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization. The rotating disk electrode (RDE) measurements provide evidence that the ORR proceed via a four-electron pathway on the electrocatalysts in alkaline solution. And it is much more efficient than pure Ag catalyst. The catalytic layer has maximum power density of 67 mW cm−2 and an acceptable cell voltage at 0.863 V when current densities increased up to 100 mA cm−2 in the Ag50Cu50-based primary zinc-air battery. The resulting rechargeable zinc-air battery exhibits low charge-discharge voltage polarization of 1.1 V at 20 mAcm−2 and high durability over 100 cycles in natural air.