Layered lithium cobalt oxide, LiCoO₂ (LCO), is a promising catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); however, its bifunctional activity is still far from desirable. Here, a novel heterointerface of Co@LCO nanofibers (Co@LCO-NFs) is developed via an elegant in situ exsolution approach to promote bifunctionality. This in situ exsolution promises improved electrical conductivity, rich oxygen vacancies, and in particular a modulated electronic structure, thereby demonstrating a substantially enhanced bifunctional activity. Density functional theory calculations further reveal that the synergistic coupling of LCO and Co results in strengthened covalency of Co–O and facilitated OER/ORR kinetics. As a result, an assembled Zn–air battery using the Co@LCO-NFs electrode delivers high peak power density with competitive cycling stability, favorably outperforming the benchmark Pt/C–IrO₂ based batteries. This protocol provides new insights into designing heterostructured bifunctional catalysts for related energy conversion and storage devices.

中文翻译：

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原位溶解的Co纳米颗粒与LiCoO2纳米纤维偶联以诱导氧气对可充电Zn-空气电池的电催化作用

层状钴酸锂LiCoO ₂（LCO）是用于氧释放反应（OER）和氧还原反应（ORR）的有前途的催化剂。然而，其双功能活性仍然远远不能令人满意。在这里，通过优雅的原位提取方法开发了一种新型的Co @ LCO纳米纤维异质界面（Co @ LCO-NFs），以促进双功能性。这原位exsolution有望改善电导率，富氧空位，尤其是经过调节的电子结构，从而证明其双功能活性大大提高。密度泛函理论计算进一步表明，LCO和Co的协同偶联可增强Co-O的共价性并促进OER / ORR动力学。结果，使用Co @ LCO-NFs电极组装的Zn-空气电池可提供高峰值功率密度和具有竞争力的循环稳定性，从而优于基于基准Pt / C-IrO ₂的电池。该协议为设计用于相关能量转换和存储设备的异结构双功能催化剂提供了新的见解。