Graphene-based, Pt-loaded RuO2 nanosheet as a durable and highly active bifunctional oxygen electrode

In this issue of Chem Catalysis, Wu et al. have designed a novel bifunctional catalyst that can be used as a Li-O2 battery cathode. It delivers a low mid-capacity overpotential of 0.78 V for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at 500 mAh/g with over 200 cycles. This work provides inspiration for the design of bifunctional catalysts and elucidates the critical role of OER and ORR catalyst interaction in the performance of O2 cathodes. The design philosophy is inspiring, but fully demonstrating its effectiveness will require further understanding of the performance improvement mechanism and further optimization of the catalytic performance.