A novel approach for facile synthesis of cost-optimal catalyst for high-performance lithium-air battery

We have developed a novel and efficient cathode for advanced lithium-air batteries by employing a new approach and facile strategy. In this method, we prepared core-shell structured ZIF-8@ZIF-67 crystals with epitaxial growth using a hydrothermal technique. By subjecting these crystals to carbonization at a temperature 200 °C higher than the degradation initiation temperature (i.e. 600 °C according to thermogravimetric results), we successfully obtained functionalized nanoporous hybrid carbon materials. These hybrid carbon materials consist of hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon @ cobalt anchored/nitrogen doped carbon (NC@CNC), where the nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) serves as the core and the cobalt anchored/nitrogen doped carbon (CNC) forms the shell. It is worth noting that electrochemical characterization data strongly support the superior performance of this nanoporous hybrid carbon material. It combines the advantageous properties of individual mesopores of nitrogen-doped carbon and the catalytic activity of cobalt‑nitrogen doped carbon. In particular, the cathode material, i.e. NC@CNC, exhibits a remarkable specific capacitance of 10,000 mAh·g−1, as calculated from the galvanostatic charge-discharge curves obtained at a current density of 50 mA·g−1. This impressive performance highlights the potential of our developed material in enhancing the efficiency and overall performance of lithium-air batteries.