A B4C nanowire and carbon nanotube composite as a novel bifunctional electrocatalyst for high energy lithium oxygen batteries

Abstract

A B₄C nanowire as a novel bifunctional electrocatalyst was synthesized using carbon nanotubes as the template. Because of the highly efficient catalytic activity, together with the abundant catalytic sites in the B₄C nanowire and carbon nanotube composite, this material exhibits great catalytic activity as an efficient bifunctional catalyst for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions in lithium oxygen batteries. Excellent cycling performance under capacity limited mode is demonstrated, in which the terminal discharge voltage is higher than 2.2 V after 120 cycles at a current density of 0.4 mA cm⁻². This novel electrocatalyst is a promising bifunctional electrocatalyst for lithium oxygen batteries, with high energy density, favorable rechargeability, and high round-trip efficiency (76%).