ABSTRACT
This chapter 3 comprehensively presents carbon-composited bifunctional catalysts for RMABs in terms of their material selection, synthesis method, structural characterization and electrochemical performance. Superior to single material catalysts, carbon-based composited catalysts possess synergistic effects on structural and electrical properties resulting from different components, leading to enhanced ORR and OER performances in RMAB air-electrode catalysts. To obtain advanced carbon-based composites as bifunctional RMAB catalysts, the selection of carbon materials is very crucial because different carbon materials can have different properties, including porous structure, surface area and electronic conductivity, which can affect the transport of ionic/electronic/gas, electron conductivity and the distribution of catalytic active sites. Also, the carbon materials show strong interactions with other component(s) (e.g., oxides and metals), and thus favoring the improvement of ORR/OER and their stability/durability.
