Structural Modulation of Co Catalyzed Carbon Nanotubes with Cu–Co Bimetal Active Center to Inspire Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Rational design of highly efficient catalyst for ORR is critical for development of advanced air cathode in Zn–air cells and fuel cells. To optimize the ORR performance of Co based cathode, the structure of carbon nanotube from DCI-Co precursor could be controlled through modulate synthetic parameters. The optimized ORR catalyst Co@NCNT-700 exhibit larger BET area, higher content of Co–Nx and graphitic N, which performance could be improved in further through Cu doping. The experiment data approved that the activity of Co–Nx was enhanced by the synergistic effect with introduced Cu. Furthermore, the high-performance zinc-air batteries was fabricated with the bimetal catalyst CuCo@NCNT-700 as an air electrode. The high open-cycle potential (1.54 V) and peak power density (0.275 W.cm–2 at 0.474 A.cm–2) were achieved, which would be potentially used to develop next generation energy conversion devices.