Mesoporous Co3O4 with different porosities as catalysts for the lithium–oxygen cell

Mesoporous cobalt oxides (Co3O4) with different porosities were employed as the electrochemical catalysts of lithium–oxygen batteries. The mesoporous Co3O4 demonstrated significantly improved round-trip efficiency and specific capacity over the bulk catalyst. Moreover, electrochemical measurement results suggest that the highly open and continuous three-dimensional cubic mesoporous structural features of the catalyst are imperative for its much higher catalytic reactivity than the two-dimensional hexagonal mesoporous Co3O4. A capacity close to 2250 mA h g− 1carbon and a round-trip efficiency of 81.42% were obtained for the mesoporous Co3O4-KIT-6-40 catalyzed air electrode. It is suggested that the mesoporous metal oxide could be a promising catalyst of air electrode for the high performance lithium–oxygen battery.