Metal – organic framework-derived oxide catalysts for rechargeable lithium – oxygen batteries

Transition metal oxides are promising cathode catalysts for lithium – oxygen batteries owing to their low cost and high catalytic activity. However, conventional synthesis methods often lead to particle agglomeration, limited active-site exposure, and poor structural control. In this work, 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (H 3 BTC) was used to coordinate Co, Cu, Mn, and Ni ions to form metal – organic framework (MOF) precursors, followed by calcination at 400 °C to obtain MOF-derived metal oxide catalysts. This MOF-derived strategy effectively alleviates particle agglomeration, preserves advantageous structural features, and enables a systematic comparison of the influence of different metal centers on catalyst structure and electrochemical behavior. Among the as-prepared catalysts, Co-BTC-400 exhibits a hierarchical hollow microsphere structure and delivers a high specific capacity of 30980 mAh g −1 at 200 mA g −1 , with stable cycling over 1000 cycles at 500 mA g −1 . Density functional theory calculations reveal moderate Li 2 O 2 adsorption and a reduced OER energy barrier on Co active sites. This work provides valuable insight into the design of MOF-derived transition metal oxide cathode catalysts for lithium – oxygen batteries.