Hollow Mesoporous Fe₂O₃ Nanospindles/CNTs Composite: An Efficient Catalyst for High-Performance Li-O₂ Batteries

The design of mesoporous or hollow transition metal oxide/carbon hybrid catalysts is very important for rechargeable Li-O₂ batteries. Here, spindle-like Fe₂O₃ with hollow mesoporous structure on CNTs backbones (Fe₂O₃-HMNS@CNT) are prepared by a facile hydrolysis process combined with low temperature calcination. Within this hybrid structure, the hollow interior and mesoporous shell of the Fe₂O₃ nanospindles provide high specific surface area and abundant catalytical active sites, which is also beneficial to facilitating the electrolyte infiltration and oxygen diffusion. Furthermore, the crisscrossed CNTs form a three-dimensional (3D) conductive network to accelerate and stabilize the electron transport, which leads to the decreasing internal resistance of electrode. As a cathodic catalyst for Li-O₂ batteries, the Fe₂O₃-HMNS@CNT composite exhibits high specific capacity and excellent cycling stability (more than 100 cycles).