Nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels-supported cobaltosic oxide nanocrystals as high-performance bi-functional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions

•The Co3O4/N-GAs are fabricated via a simple one-pot hydrothermal process.•The proposed Co3O4/N-GAs exhibit superior ORR performance and high active for the OER.•The Co3O4/N-GAs are investigated as a promising bi-functional catalyst for both ORR and OER.

A hybrid material consisting of cobaltosic oxide (Co3O4) nanocrystals grown on nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels (N-GAs), denoted as Co3O4/N-GAs, is fabricated via a simple one-pot hydrothermal process and utilized as a high-performance bi-functional electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The Co3O4/N-GAs hybrid for the ORR displays an outstanding electrocatalytic performance toward the ORR comparable with commercial Pt/C catalyst in an alkaline medium. Furthermore, our proposed hybrid is also highly active for the OER, making it a promising bi-functional catalyst for both ORR and OER. The obviously enhanced catalytic activity is ascribed to the synergistic effect between Co3O4 and N-GAs.

Graphical abstractA high-performance bi-functional Co3O4/N-GAs catalyst was fabricated via a one-pot hydrothermal synthesis method, which shows superior catalytic activity for both oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline media.Download high-res image (116KB)Download full-size image