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Plasma-engineered CuOx with Cu+ /Cu2+ states and oxygen vacancies for flexible zinc-air batteries

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Kui Zhang

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Abstract

© 2026Flexible zinc-air batteries (FZABs) hold great promise for powering next-generation wearable electronics, yet their advancement is hindered by sluggish oxygen electrocatalysis and poor cycling stability. Here, we employ a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma-assisted approach to modify CuOx/activated carbon (CuOx/AC) composite catalysts, offering a facile and scalable route to simultaneously tailor surface chemistry and nanostructure. The plasma treatment generates abundant oxygen vacancies and stabilizes mixed Cu+/Cu2+ valence states, thereby accelerating both oxygen reduction and evolution reaction (ORR/OER) kinetics. It also produces a three-dimensional porous architecture of vertically aligned nanosheets with uniformly dispersed CuOx nanoparticles, enabling rapid electron/mass transport. When applied in FZABs, the CuOx/AC-DBD catalyst achieves a high peak power density (226 mW cm−2), an open-circuit voltage of 1.37 V, and remarkable cycling stability with 95% capacity retention. Compared with untreated catalysts, it exhibits a much lower charge-transfer resistance (12 Ω cm2) and superior durability. This study demonstrates that DBD plasma engineering is an effective and low-cost strategy for designing high-performance bifunctional catalysts, paving the way for flexible and wearable energy storage devices.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Wu H, Li S, Yang D, Wang Y, Wang S, Ma Y, Ma Z, Liu N, Zhang K, Zhu H, Jia S, Ren P, Feng Q, Tan R, Feng Z

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Alloys and Compounds

Year: 2026

Volume: 1071

Online publication date: 22/05/2026

Acceptance date: 21/05/2026

ISSN (print): 0925-8388

ISSN (electronic): 1873-4669

Publisher: Elsevier Ltd

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2026.188808

DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2026.188808

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