Catechol-functionalized carbon nanofibers enabling ultrafine CoFe2O4 nanorods for high-performance bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis and Zn–air batteries
6 affiliations
- 1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore 54792 Pakistan
- 2Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Electrochemical Energy Storage Helmholtzstrasse 11 89081 Ulm Germany
- 3Department of Materials Science & Nanotechnology Engineering, TOBB University of Economics and Technology Söğütözü Cad. 43 Ankara 06560 Türkiye
- 4UNAM Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University 06800 Ankara Türkiye
- 5Department of Materials Science and Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Dhahran 31261 Saudi Arabia
- 6Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen Technologies and Carbon Management, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Dhahran 31261 Saudi Arabia
Abstract
The interfacial mismatch between metal oxide and carbon support remains a fundamental bottleneck in bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts, often leading to poor charge transfer, structure instability and underutilized active sites. In this work, we report the controlled anchoring of ultrafine cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanorods on catechol functionalized porous carbon nanofibers (PCNF), denoted as CoFe2O4@DP@PCNF. Surface functionalization with catechol groups via dopamine linkages effectively regulates the nucleation of CoFe2O4, resulting in a substantial reduction of the nanorod size (from ∼103 to ∼29 nm) and a homogeneous dispersion across the conductive carbon network. Benefiting from the ultra-fine size and strong spinel oxide–carbon interfacial coupling, the optimized hybrid catalyst delivers a half-wave potential of 0.77 V vs. RHE for ORR, comparable to commercial Pt/C (0.79 V), and achieves a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 301 mV for OER, outperforming RuO2 (410 mV). When applied as the air electrode in a rechargeable Zn–air battery, CoFe2O4@DP@PCNF exhibits an open-circuit voltage of 1.372 V and excellent cycling stability for 110 h. This work demonstrates an effective surface functionalized strategy for regulating particle size and provides an advanced pathway for designing high-performance oxygen electrocatalysts.
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BibTeX
@article{awan2026catecholfunctionalized,
title = {{Catechol-functionalized carbon nanofibers enabling ultrafine CoFe2O4 nanorods for high-performance bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis and Zn–air batteries}},
author = {Rabiya Javed Awan and Usman Hayder and Senem Çitoğlu and Hatice Duran and Salman Noshear Arshad},
journal = {RSC Advances},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra09690e},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ra09690e},
note = {CC BY 3.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Catechol-functionalized carbon nanofibers enabling ultrafine CoFe2O4 nanorods for high-performance bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis and Zn–air batteries
AU - Rabiya Javed Awan
AU - Usman Hayder
AU - Senem Çitoğlu
AU - Hatice Duran
AU - Salman Noshear Arshad
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
JO - RSC Advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra09690e
UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ra09690e
AB - The interfacial mismatch between metal oxide and carbon support remains a fundamental bottleneck in bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts, often leading to poor charge transfer, structure instability and underutilized active sites. In this work, we report the controlled anchoring of ultrafine cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanorods on catechol functionalized porous carbon nanofibers (PCNF), denoted as CoFe2O4@DP@PCNF. Surface functionalization with catechol groups via dopamine linkages effectively regulates the nucleation of CoFe2O4, resulting in a substantial reduction of the nanorod size (from ∼103 to ∼29 nm) and a homogeneous dispersion across the conductive carbon network. Benefiting from the ultra-fine size and strong spinel oxide–carbon interfacial coupling, the optimized hybrid catalyst delivers a half-wave potential of 0.77 V vs. RHE for ORR, comparable to commercial Pt/C (0.79 V), and achieves a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 301 mV for OER, outperforming RuO2 (410 mV). When applied as the air electrode in a rechargeable Zn–air battery, CoFe2O4@DP@PCNF exhibits an open-circuit voltage of 1.372 V and excellent cycling stability for 110 h. This work demonstrates an effective surface functionalized strategy for regulating particle size and provides an advanced pathway for designing high-performance oxygen electrocatalysts.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -