Recent advances of carbon fiber-based self-supported electrocatalysts in oxygen electrocatalysis

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are the key reactions in numerous renewable energy devices. Unlike conventional powdered catalysts, self-supported catalysts are extensively employed in oxygen electrocatalysis because of the enhanced electron-transfer rate, high specific surface area, and superior mechanical flexibility. Among the self-supported conductive substrates, carbon fiber usually exhibits several distinctive advantages, such as a straightforward preparation process, relatively low cost, good stability, and excellent conductivity. Against this background, carbon fiber-based self-supported electrocatalysts have been widely applied and studied in oxygen electrocatalysis, indicating a promising development direction in oxygen electrocatalyst research. Thus, it is essential to offer an overall summary of the research progress in this field to facilitate its subsequent development. Taking the regulatory mechanisms and modification methods as a starting point, this review comprehensively summarizes recent research on carbon fiber-based self-supported electrocatalysts in recent years. Firstly, a brief overview of the synthesis methods and regulatory mechanisms of carbon fiber-based self-supported electrocatalysts is given. Furthermore, the view also highlights the modification methods and research progress of self-supported electrocatalysts synthesized on carbon fiber-based substrates in recent years in terms of different dopant atoms. Finally, the prospects for the application of self-supported electrocatalysts based on carbon fiber in oxygen electrocatalysis and the possible future directions of their development are presented. This review summarizes recent developments and applications of self-supported bi-functional electrocatalysts with carbon fiber-based materials as the conducting substrate in oxygen electrocatalysis. It also lays a robust scientific foundation for the subsequent reasonable design of highly effective carbon fiber-based self-supported electrocatalysts.