Engineers from the Monash University have achieved record-breaking performance in zinc-air batteries using heat treatment to turn 3D material into carbon-sheets and adding cobalt atoms to produce a faster and more efficient solution.
A zinc-air battery is a metal-air electrochemical cell powered by the oxidation of zinc with oxygen from the air.
Lead authors Saeed Askari and Parama Banerjee, from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, said it outperformed standard commercial catalysts made from expensive metals like platinum and ruthenium.
“By engineering cobalt and iron as individual atoms on a carbon framework, we achieved record-breaking performance in zinc-air batteries, showing what is possible when catalysts are designed with atomic precision,” Askari says.
“Our advanced simulations revealed that the cobalt-iron atom pairs, combined with nitrogen dopants, enhance charge transfer and optimise reaction kinetics, solving one of the biggest bottlenecks for rechargeable zinc-air batteries.”
Banerjee says the principles behind the design can be applied to other clean energy technologies including fuel cells, water splitting, and CO2 conversion.
“Running a rechargeable zinc-air battery continuously for more than two months is a milestone for the field,” Banerjee says.
“It demonstrates that this technology is ready to move beyond the laboratory and into practical applications.”
Zinc-air batteries are currently used in small devices like hearing aids, Monash University says this new development opens the door to rechargeable, high-power applications.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Monash University
