Co3O4 nanofiber as a high-performance electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution

Developing highly active and low-cost catalysts towards oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of high importance for many advanced energy technologies, e.g., rechargeable fuel cells, metal-air batteries, water and splitting. In this work, Co 3 O 4 nanofibers are prepared through a facile pyrolizing procedure by using cobalt complex nanofibers as the precursor. The catalyst exhibits high performance towards OER in 1 M KOH solution, with potentials of 1.53 and 1.59 V at 10 and 100 mA cm −2 , respectively. When used as the air electrode catalyst combining with Pt/C catalyst, it can give the zinc-air battery a high charging performance, as well as an outstanding cyclic charging-discharging stability.