Introducing Metal–Organic Nanotubes to Derive High-Density Bimetal Alloy Nanoparticles Supported on Nanorods for Lithium–Oxygen Batteries

Oxygen electrolysis is the key component of lithium–oxygen batteries, which require highly active cathode catalysts to reduce cathode polarization and improve cycling stability, while metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and MOF-derived carbon-based materials have aroused great interest as alternatives to noble-metal oxygen electrocatalysts. Herein, a single-walled metal–organic nanotube (MONT), Ni(II)(C₆H₇NO₆)(H₂O), with a novel crystal structure, is synthesized and doped with cobalt to be used as precursors to produce the uniformly distributed high-density NiCo alloy nanoparticles, which are encapsulated by the graphitized N-doped carbon (NiCo@NC) and supported on the nanorods based on the structural and morphological characteristics of the MONT precursor. Benefited from the uniformly distributed high-density catalytic active sites, bimetal alloy composition, and excellent mass transfer structure, the as-derived NiCo@NC catalyst endows the assembled lithium–oxygen battery with a low overpotential of 0.98 V, a high discharge capacity of 12 477 mAh g^–1, and more importantly, the excellent cycling stability of over 800 h. These findings demonstrate the potential of this superb catalyst in high-performance lithium–oxygen batteries and diverse energy conversion and storage devices.