Modulating the electronic structure of hollow Cu/Cu3P hetero-nanoparticles to boost the oxygen reduction performance in long-lasting Zn-air battery

Developing cost-benefit and high-performance non-noble metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts is highly imperative for wide applications of renewable energy conversion devices. Herein, a one stone two birds phosphorization strategy has been proposed to synthesize hollow structured Cu/Cu3P heterogeneous nanoparticles supported on N, P co-doped carbon (Cu/Cu3P@NP-Cs). The optimized Cu/Cu3P@NP-C-900 features high ORR performance under both alkaline and acidic conditions. Moreover, the Cu/Cu3P@NP-C-900-drivened Zn-air battery exhibits a substantially higher power density output (148.2 mW cm(-2)) and stronger charge-discharge stability (300 h, 1805 cycles) than those of Pt/C-equipped counterpart. The cross-interface electron transfer from Cu3P to Cu effectively regulates the d-band center of Cu/Cu3P, thereby leading to the balanced adsorption/desorption energy of oxygen species. Meanwhile, the hollow structure maximizes the exposure of accessible active centers, resulting in much accelerated ORR kinetics. This work proposes an innovative insight for developing hollow hetero-structured catalysts to improve ORR performance.