CoP-decorated N,P-doped necklace-like carbon for highly efficient oxygen reduction and Al-air batteries

Abstract Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have attracted increasing attention as robust and efficient catalyst materials owing to their unique electronic properties and stabilities. Here, CoP-decorated N,P-doped necklace-like carbon (CoP@N,P-CNFs) was fabricated by thermal treatment of electrospun ZIF-67 spheres. The resulting CoP exhibits not only fine nanostructures but also synergistic effects with N,P-doped carbon. Polyacrylonitrile-derived nanofibers also promote the conductivity of the complex. As a consequence, CoP@N,P-CNFs exhibited excellent electrocatalytic oxygen reduction activities and Al-air battery performance. It is believed that nanofibers supporting metal-organic framework-derived heteroatom-doped carbon-encapsulated TMPs can be extended to broad applications in energy storage and conversions.