N‐doped porous carbon nanofibers inlaid with hollow Co_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles as an efficient bifunctional catalyst for rechargeable Li‐O_(2) batteries

Stable and high‐efficiency bifunctional catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER)are desired for the practical application of Li‐O_(2)batteries with excellent rate performance and cycle stability.Herein,a novel hybrid bifunctional catalyst with carbon nanofibers inlaid with hollow Co_(3)O_(4)nanoparticles and separate active sites for ORR and OER were prepared and applied in Li‐O_(2)batteries.Benefiting from the synergistic effect of unique porous structural features and high electrocatalytic activity of hollow Co3O4 intimately bound to N‐doped carbon nanofibers,the assembled Li‐O_(2)batteries with novel catalyst exhibited high specific capacity,excellent rate capability,and cycle stability up to 150 cycles under a capacity limitation of 500 mAh g^(–1)at a current density of 100 mA g^(–1).The facile synthesis and preliminary results in this work show the as‐prepared catalyst as a promising bifunctional electrocatalyst for applications in metal‐air batteries,fuel cells,and electrocatalysis.