High-performance rechargeable metal–air batteries enabled by efficient charge transport in multielement random alloy electrocatalyst

The integration of bifunctionally active sites of multielement random alloy catalysts with other metal oxide electrocatalysts is a promising strategy for efficient electrochemical reactions. In this study, a novel combination of virtual crystal approximation and hydrothermal synthesis was used to investigate the composition-dependent structure and electrical property in a Ag1−xNix catalyst. The combination showed that a hexagonal closed-packed structure of Ag1−xNix with a compositional ratio of 6:4 (Ag:Ni) had electrical conductivity of ∼2 × 107 S∙cm−1 and an ionization potential of − 5.4 eV. Furthermore, the bifunctional oxygen electrocatalytic efficiencies of Ag0.6Ni0.4 were improved by forming a heterointerface with the CoNb2O6 electrocatalyst, resulting in a discharge-charge voltage gap of 0.81 V over 587 h, peak power density of 178.9 mW∙cm−2, and specific capacity of 806.8 mA∙h∙g−1 in a zinc–air battery. This approach was applied to pouch-type zinc–air batteries, resulting in long-term stability of over 158.6 h at 10 mA∙cm−2.