Catalytic C/Fe sites activation of Fe3C embedded in carbon nanotubes by the incorporation of VN for multifunctional electrocatalytic properties

Xiaoyi Li, Jianfeng Huang, Dewei Chu, Liyun Cao, Xiao Zhang, Qian Chen, Koji Kajiyoshi, Yijun Liu and Liangliang Feng

Energy, 2025, vol. 319, issue C

Abstract: The innovative design of highly efficient non-noble metal electrocatalysts with multifunctional properties is significant for energy conversion and storage systems. In this work, a novel VN/Fe3C heterostructured nanoparticle embedded in N-doped carbon nanotubes (VN/Fe3C@NCNT), in which the C site and Fe site of Fe3C are activated and upgraded by VN, respectively, is reported firstly as a multifunctional electrocatalyst towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Impressively, the fabricated zinc-air batteries (ZABs) based on VN/Fe3C@NCNT as air-cathode exhibit high power density (189.10 mW cm−2), a specific capacity of 667 mAh gZn−1, and long-term stability (over 600 cycles), outperforming the commercial Pt/C + IrO2-based ZABs. DFT calculations elucidate that VN serves as “electron activators” to not only activate CFe sites of Fe3C as the dominating active sites for HER, but also promote the activity of Fe sites for ORR due to the decrease of the O2 adsorption energy, thereby promoting the electrocatalytic reaction kinetics. This work opens up new insights into the enhanced mechanism of catalytic properties of metal carbide-carbon hybrid materials for energy-related devices.

Keywords: Multifunctional electrocatalysts; Alkaline medium; Transition metal carbides/nitrides; Electronic activator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:319:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225006875

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.135045

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