Oxygen reduction efficiency holds the key for renewable energy technologies including fuel cells and metal-air batteries, which involves coupling diffusion-reaction-conduction processes at the interface of catalyst/electrolyte, and thus rational electrode design facilitating mass transportation stands as a key issue for fast oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, we report a Janus electrode with asymmetric wettability prepared by partly modifying aerophobic nitrogen doped carbon nanotube arrays with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a high performance catalytic electrode for ORR. The Janus electrode with opposite wettability on adjacent sides maintains stable gas reservoir in the aerophilic side while shortening O₂ pathway to catalysts in the aerophobic side, resulting in superior ORR performance (22.5 mA/cm² @ 0.5 V) than merely aerophilic or aerophilic electrodes. The Janus electrode endows catalytic performance even comparable to commercial Pt/C in the alkaline electrolyte, exploiting a previously unrecognized opportunity that guides electrode design for the gas-consumption electrocatalysis.

中文翻译：

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Janus电极可同时管理气体和液体传输，以促进氧气还原反应

减氧效率是包括燃料电池和金属空气电池在内的可再生能源技术的关键，这涉及在催化剂/电解质界面处耦合扩散-反应-传导过程，因此合理的电极设计有利于大量运输，这是解决氢能的关键问题。快速氧气还原反应（ORR）。在本文中，我们报告了一种具有不对称润湿性的Janus电极，该电极是通过用聚四氟乙烯（PTFE）改性需氧氮掺杂的碳纳米管阵列作为ORR的高性能催化电极而制备的。在相邻侧具有相反润湿性的Janus电极在需氧侧保持稳定的气体储存，同时缩短了在需氧侧通向催化剂的O ₂路径，从而实现了卓越的ORR性能（22.5 mA / cm² @ 0.5 V）而不是仅需氧或需氧电极。Janus电极在碱性电解液中的催化性能甚至可与市售Pt / C媲美，这利用了以前无法识别的机会，指导了用于气体消耗电催化的电极设计。