Oxygen
reduction reaction (ORR) is an efficiency-determining process
at the cathode in several energy storage and conversion devices, typically
such as metal-air batteries and fuel cells. To date, a considerable
amount of ORR electrocatalysts have been purposely exploited to address
the key issues of high overpotentials and sluggish electrochemical
kinetics. Electrospinning is a popular additive manufacturing technology,
enabling the production of one-dimensional (1D) electrocatalysts with
outstanding chemical stability and structural diversity. However,
compared with the well-studied composite/structural design as well
as performance advancement, insights into structure–activity
relationship are yet to be settled. To clarify this key issue, herein,
a dedicated review on the structure–activity relationship between
the 1D architectures of electrospun electrocatalysts and their catalytic
ORR property is presented. First, the development and principles of
electrospinning technique, the composition regulation- and structure
design-oriented fundamentals are summarized by imputing the perspectives
of mechanistic understanding. Then, the typical examples of nanofiber-shaped
and nanofiber-supported electrocatalysts with different compositions
and structures for ORR are implemented to establish different structure–activity
relationship by comparative studies. Finally, we also identify some
ongoing challenges and present future perspectives to direct the precise
manipulation of structure–activity relationship for further
activation and optimization of electrospun 1D electrocatalysts.