Carbide composite nanowire as bifunctional electrocatalyst for lithium oxygen batteries

Abstract

Producing low-cost non-precious metal catalysts in large scales to be used as air-cathodes for efficient oxygen reduction and evolution reactions in Li-O-2 batteries is a demanding task. Herein, we report a simple technique for the synthesis of a carbide composite comprising molybdenum and tungsten with a robust nanowire structure. When applied as an air-cathode electrocatalyst in Li-O-2 batteries, the nanowire composite delivered high specific discharge capacity with reversibility and cyclability. This work provides a novel approach for tailoring nano-architectures and thereby achieving high-power Li-air batteries.