Ni/Co Dual Atom Catalysts with Synergistic Bifunctionality for High-efficiency Lithium Oxygen Battery

doi:10.1007/s40242-025-5053-5

Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2025, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (4): 955-965.doi: 10.1007/s40242-025-5053-5

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Ni/Co Dual Atom Catalysts with Synergistic Bifunctionality for High-efficiency Lithium Oxygen Battery

MOHAMED Zeinab, CHIMTALI Joseph Peter, JIANG Wei, XU Hanchen, WANG Changda SONG Li

National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, P. R. China

Received:2025-04-03 Accepted:2025-05-30 Online:2025-08-01 Published:2025-07-24
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Nos. 2022YFA1504104, 2022YFA1605400), the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) Scholarship for Young Talents, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12225508, U23A20121, 22075264, 52202120), and the USTC Research Funds of the Double First-class Initiative (No. YD2310002013) We acknowledge the support provided by Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (14W1 and 14B1, SSRF), Hefei Synchrotron Radiation Facility (Infrared spectroscopy and micro spectroscopy, MCDA and MCD-B Soochow Beamline for Energy Materials, Photoemission and Catalysis/Surface Science End stations at NSRL), and Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (1W1B, 4W1B, and 4W1B, BSRF) for their assistance with material characterization. Furthermore, we are grateful for the USTC Instruments Center for Physical Science as well as Center for Micro and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication for help in characterizations.

Abstract

Abstract: Despite of the progress in cathode catalysts for lithium oxygen Li-O₂ batteries (LOBs) development, significant challenges persist, mainly due to the slow kinetics of the redox reactions due to insulating and insoluble discharge products. Dual-atom catalysts (DACs), perfectly inheriting the advantages of single atom catalysts (SACs), can exhibit better catalytic performance than simple SACs and thus have gradually gained researchers' attention. Herein, integrated adjacent Ni/Co atoms were designed via a scalable pre-constrained metal twin's strategy. Utilizing a click chemistry-derived approach, cross-linked polyphthalocyanine frameworks (TMPPc-XL) were synthesized. This design prevented metal aggregation during pyrolysis, enriched nitrogen, and stabilized well-defined Ni/Co-N_x coordination sites. The resulting dual-atom catalysts exhibited exceptional oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance, including high activity, stability, and capacity, driven by the synergistic electronic interplay between neighboring Ni-Co sites. It is expected that Ni optimizes intermediate adsorption, while Co tailored d-band positioning and lowers energy barriers, collectively enhancing charge redistribution and multi-step reaction stabilization. The modular synthesis, compatible with diverse transition metal phthalocyanines, offers a versatile platform for designing ideal electrocatalysts for realizing high-performance LOBs.

Key words: Dual atom catalyst, Li-O₂ battery, Oxygen reduction/evolution reaction

MOHAMED Zeinab, CHIMTALI Joseph Peter, JIANG Wei, XU Hanchen, WANG Changda SONG Li. Ni/Co Dual Atom Catalysts with Synergistic Bifunctionality for High-efficiency Lithium Oxygen Battery[J]. Chemical Research in Chinese Universities, 2025, 41(4): 955-965.

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Ni/Co Dual Atom Catalysts with Synergistic Bifunctionality for High-efficiency Lithium Oxygen Battery

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