One-dimensional metal-organic nanowires-derived catalyst of carbon nanobamboos with encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles for oxygen reduction

One-dimensional (1D) metal-organic nanostructures hold great promise for preparing various 1D carbon/metal derivatives toward various electrocatalysis including oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); but it is challenging to synthesize them. Herein, 1D cobalt(Co)-metal-organic nanowires are prepared using the complex of Co2+ and 1, 2, 4-triazole. Direct carbonization of the as-prepared nanowires affords a well-defined structure of Co nanoparticles encapsulated inside the bamboo-liked 1D carbon nanostructure, i.e., carbon nanobamboos ([email protected]). Owing to the outstanding electronic transport in bamboo-liked carbon structure, strong electronic coupling between the N-doped carbon and Co nanoparticles, the [email protected] catalyst exhibits an excellent ORR performance comparable to the commercial Pt/C in alkaline solution. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the [email protected] can strengthen the adsorption of all adsorbates (O*, OH* and OOH*) compared with a carbon nanotube, benifical for oxygen protonation and thus enhancing the ORR activity. Moreover, it is possible to outperform Pt intrinsically if the curvature of carbon shell is high enough in [email protected] Lastly, the zinc-air battery (ZAB) fabricated with [email protected] as the cathode catalyst shows a higher peak power density and better cycling durability than those of the ZAB with Pt/C; suggesting the great potential of [email protected] as efficient electrocatalysts for metal-air batteries.