Abstract
Here, we report a collectively exhaustive CoPi-NPC (cobalt phosphate moieties incorporated into the N, P- doped carbon) nanosheets for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and rechargeable zinc-air battery (ZAB) applications. The unprecedented CoPi-NPC nanosheets were synthesized from the cobalt-diethyl dithiocarbamate coordination complex by using room-temperature crystallization and carbonization processes. The fabricated nanosheets catalyze the critical ORR via a four-electron transfer through an associative reaction pathway in which the O-O bond cleavage can be recognized as the rate-determining step, offering high positive onset (～0.925 V vs. RHE) and the half-wave potentials (E_(1/2) = ～0.796 V vs. RHE). The assembled ZAB based on porous CoPi-NPC-900 air cathode delivered the maximum power density of ～186 mW cm~(-2), and large specific capacity of ～729 mAh g~(-1). Hence, this study opens up a new avenue to exploit various efficient non-precious electrocatalysts through different transition metal-diethyl dithiocarbamate coordination complexes.
NSTL