Prussian Blue Analogue Derived Co3O4/CuO Nanoparticles as Effective Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyst for Magnesium-Air Battery

Developing efficient, durable, and cost-effective non-noble metal catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is necessary to promote the efficiency and performance of Mg-air batteries. Herein, the Co3O4/CuO nanoparticles were synthesized by a low-cost and simple approach using CuCo-based prussian blue analogue (PBA) as precursor of pyrolysis at different calcination temperatures. It was found that the Co3O4/CuO nanoparticles calcined at 600ºC (CCO-600) have relatively small size and superior ORR performance. The onset potential is 0.889 V and the diffusion limiting current density achieves 6.746 mA·cm-2, as well as prominent stability in 0.1 M KOH electrolyte. The electron transfer number of the CCO-600 is 3.89 under alkaline medium, which indicates that the reaction mechanism of ORR is dominated by 4 e process, similar to commercial Pt. The primary Mg-air battery with the CCO-600 as the cathode catalyst has been assembled and possesses better discharge performance than the CuCo-based PBA. The open circuit voltage of CCO-600 arrives at 1.76 V and energy density of 1895.95 mWh/g. This work provides an effective strategy to develop non-noble metal ORR catalyst for the application of metal-air batteries