CuO/Co3O4 heterostructures with carbon nanotubes composites as ORR/OER electrocatalysts for Zn-air batteries

Rechargeable Zn-air batteries (ZABs) constitute promising next-energy conversion and storage systems due to their low cost, intrinsic safety, and feasibility to fabricate high energy density and stable charge and discharge voltage. Nevertheless, the most significant challenge of rechargeable ZABs is relatively high over potential owing to the sluggish kinetics of oxygen reactions on the air cathode, requiring high-performance noble-metal-free bifunctional electrocatalysts with highly cost-effective. Herein, we developed a facile and scalable coprecipitation strategy to successfully prepare CuO/Co3O4@CNTs catalysts for bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts. This unique strategy enables CuO/Co3O4 nanoparticles to be uniformly grown on CNTs and the simultaneous pyrolysis process results in the generation of ultrafine CuO/Co3O4 heterostructures. Contributed to an abundance of heterostructures, the oxygen vacancies and unsaturated chemical bonds in the interface were generated in CuO/Co3O4. Consequently, the CuO/Co3O4@CNTs delivered bifunctional activity of ΔE of 0.78 V and good stability that can maintain 1000 h charge and discharge cycles.