La0.8Sr0.2MnO3-δ Decorated with Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.3Fe0.2O3-δ: A Bifunctional Surface for Oxygen Electrocatalysis with Enhanced Stability and Activity

Developing highly active and stable catalysts based on earth-abundant elements for oxygen electrocatalysis is critical to enable efficient energy storage and conversion. In this work, we took advantage of the high intrinsic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3-delta (LSMO) and the high intrinsic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity of Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-delta (BSCF) to develop a novel bifunctional catalyst. We used pulsed laser deposition to fabricate well-defined surfaces composed of BSCF on thin-film LSMO grown on (001)-oriented Nb-doped SrTiO3. These surfaces exhibit bifunctionality for oxygen electrocatalysis with enhanced activities and stability for both the ORR and OER that rival the state-of-the-art single- and multicomponent catalysts in the literature.