Relationship between Morphology and Performance of Manganese-Derived Catalysts for Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries

Porous carbon derived from a zeolitic imidazolate framework containing zinc (ZIF-8) was used as a precursor, and Mn was deposited on it, which improves the catalytic performance and stability for both ORR and OER. Mn-deposited porous carbon was obtained by the thermal decomposition of Zn-ZIF-8 at 1000 °C, which removes most of the Zn atoms from Zn-ZIF-8 and yields porous carbon (PC) to form Mn/C-ZIF. The Mn/C-ZIF has a higher surface area of 60 m²/g. The Mn/C-ZIF catalyst shows significant performance for ORR (oxygen reduction reactions) and OER (oxygen evolution reactions). The Mn/C-ZIF has high stability and low overpotential for rechargeable zinc-air batteries. The Mn-deposited porous carbon has potential application toward rechargeable zinc-air batteries as a cathode material and generates catalytically active sites for ORR/OER.