Ruthenium Oxide Incorporated One‐Dimensional Cobalt Oxide Composite Nanowires as Lithium–Oxygen Battery Cathode Catalysts

Abstract Ruthenium oxide/cobalt oxide composite nanowires (RuO 2 /Co 3 O 4 NWs) have been synthesized through a simple and efficient electrospinning method for use as bifunctional electrocatalysts in rechargeable lithium–oxygen (Li–O 2 ) battery cathodes. The as‐prepared NWs have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. The intrinsic activities of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) over the obtained composite NWs are studied using a rotating‐disk electrode technique. The RuO 2 /Co 3 O 4 NWs exhibit superior bifunctional electrocatalytic activities for both the ORR and the OER if compared to the activities of the Co 3 O 4 NWs and only Ketjenblack (KB). If the RuO 2 /Co 3 O 4 NWs are employed as cathode catalysts in Li–O 2 cells, great improvements in terms of the discharge capacity, coulombic efficiency, and cycle stability with low discharge‐charge overpotentials are achieved. These can be attributed to the high bifunctional catalytic activities of the RuO 2 /Co 3 O 4 composite NWs.