Oxygen electrocatalysis is of great importance for many energy storage and conversion technologies, including fuel cells, metal–air batteries and water electrolysis. Replacing noble metal-based electrocatalysts with highly efficient and inexpensive non-noble metal-based oxygen electrocatalysts is critical for the practical applications of these technologies. Here we report a general approach for the synthesis of hollow frameworks of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes derived from metal–organic frameworks, which exhibit higher electrocatalytic activity and stability for oxygen reduction and evolution than commercial Pt/C electrocatalysts. The remarkable electrochemical properties are mainly attributed to the synergistic effect from chemical compositions and the robust hollow structure composed of interconnected crystalline nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes. The presented strategy for controlled design and synthesis of metal–organic framework-derived functional nanomaterials offers prospects in developing highly active electrocatalysts in electrochemical energy devices.

http://www.nature.com/articles/nenergy20156

氧气电催化剂对于很多储能技术来说都非常重要，如燃料电池、金属-空气电池等。用高效、廉价的非贵金属氧气电催化剂代替现有的贵金属催化剂对于这些技术的实际应用具有重要意义。Xia等人报道了一种通过金属-有机骨架来合成氮掺杂碳纳米管中空骨架的通用方法，这种骨架比传统的Pt/C电催化剂具有更高的活性和稳定性。新型骨架电化学性能的提升主要归因于化学组分和中空结构的协同作用。这种设计合成基于金属-有机骨架的双功能纳米材料的新方法未来有望用于开发更多高效的电化学催化剂。（NatureEnergy DOI: 10.1038/NENERGY.2015.6）（新材料在线整理编译）