Hollow Mesoporous Fe2O3 Nanospindles/CNTs Composite: An Efficient Catalyst for High-Performance Li-O2 Batteries

• Published in: Frontiers in chemistry Vol. 7; p. 511
• Main Authors: Xue, Hairong, Ma, Yiou, Wang, Tao, Gong, Hao, Gao, Bin, Fan, Xiaoli, Yan, Juanjuan, Meng, Xianguang, Zhang, Songtao, He, Jianping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A 25.07.2019
• Subjects: carbon support; cathodic catalyst; Chemistry; hollow mesoporous structure; Li-O2 batteries; transition metal oxides
• ISSN: 2296-2646; 2296-2646
• DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2019.00511

The design of mesoporous or hollow transition metal oxide/carbon hybrid catalysts is very important for rechargeable Li-O 2 batteries. Here, spindle-like Fe 2 O 3 with hollow mesoporous structure on CNTs backbones (Fe 2 O 3 -HMNS@CNT) are prepared by a facile hydrolysis process combined with low temperature calcination. Within this hybrid structure, the hollow interior and mesoporous shell of the Fe 2 O 3 nanospindles provide high specific surface area and abundant catalytical active sites, which is also beneficial to facilitating the electrolyte infiltration and oxygen diffusion. Furthermore, the crisscrossed CNTs form a three-dimensional (3D) conductive network to accelerate and stabilize the electron transport, which leads to the decreasing internal resistance of electrode. As a cathodic catalyst for Li-O 2 batteries, the Fe 2 O 3 -HMNS@CNT composite exhibits high specific capacity and excellent cycling stability (more than 100 cycles).