Mesoporous ZnCo2O4 nanoflakes with bifunctional electrocatalytic activities toward efficiencies of rechargeable lithium–oxygen batteries in aprotic media

Abstract

This study reports the successful synthesis of ternary spinel-based ZnCo₂O₄ nanoflakes (NFs) with mesoporous architectures via the combination of a urea-assisted hydrothermal reaction with calcination in an air atmosphere. Owing to their favorable mesostructures and desirable bifunctional oxygen reduction and evolution activities, the resulting mesoporous ZnCo₂O₄ NFs yielded stable cyclability at a cut-off capacity of 500 mA h g_carbon⁻¹ in the case of aprotic Li–O₂ batteries.