title: Spinel Mn-Co oxide in N-doped carbon nanotubes as a bifunctional electrocatalyst synthesized by oxidative cutting.
abstract: The notorious instability of non-precious-metal catalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution is by far the single unresolved impediment for their practical applications. We have designed highly stable and active bifunctional catalysts for reversible oxygen electrodes by oxidative thermal scission, where we concurrently rupture nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes and oxidize Co and Mn nanoparticles buried inside them to form spinel Mn-Co oxide nanoparticles partially embedded in the nanotubes. Impressively high dual activity for oxygen reduction and evolution is achieved using these catalysts, surpassing those of Pt/C, RuO2, and IrO2 and thus raising the prospect of functional low-cost, non-precious-metal bifunctional catalysts in metal-air batteries and reversible fuel cells, among others, for a sustainable and green energy future.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Industrial Chemistry, Ruhr-University Bochum , 44801 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Anqi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Justus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Masa
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Artjom
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maljusch
authors.forename: Marc-Georg
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Willinger
authors.forename: Guylhaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Clavel
authors.forename: Kunpeng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schlögl
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schuhmann
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muhler