博士生何玉婷题为“Heteroatom coordination regulates iron single-atom-catalyst with superior oxygen reduction reaction performance for aqueous Zn-air battery”的研究论文被材料类知名期刊Small接收。

Abstract： PGM-free M-N-C catalysts have exhibited dramatic electrocatalytic performance and have been considered the most promising candidate of the Pt catalysts in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the electrocatalytic performance of the M-N-C catalysts is still limited by their inferior intrinsic activity and finite active site density. Regulating the coordination environment and increasing the pore structure of the catalyst is an effective strategy to enhance the electrocatalytic performance of the M-N-C catalysts. In this work, the coordination environment and pore structure exquisitely regulated Fe-N-C catalyst exhibit excellent ORR activity and durability. With the enhanced intrinsic activity and increased active site density, the optimized Fe-N/S-C catalyst shows impressive ORR activity (E1/2 =0.904 V vs. RHE) and superior long-term durability in an alkaline medium. With the advanced physical characterization and theoretical chemistry methods illumination, the S-modified Fe-Nx (Fe-N3/S-C) moiety was confirmed as the improved active center for ORR, and the increased active site density further improved ORR efficiency. Based on the Fe-N/S-C cathode, a Zn-air battery was fabricated and shows a superior power density (315.4 mW cm-2) and long-term discharge stability at 20 mA cm-2. This work would open a new perspective to designing atomically dispersed iron-metal site catalysts for advanced electro-catalysis.