The fabrication of a gas diffusion electrode (GDE) without carbon components is described. It is therefore suitable for use as a bifunctional oxygen electrode in alkaline secondary batteries. The electrode is fabricated in two stages (a) the formation of a PTFE-bonded nickel powder layer on a nickel foam substrate and (b) the deposition of a NiCO2O4 spinet electrocatalyst layer by dip coating in a nitrate solution and thermal decomposition. The influence of modifications to the procedure on the performance of the GDEs in 8 M NaOH at 333 K is described. The GDEs can support current densities up to 100 mA cm(-2) with state-of-the-art overpotentials for both oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction. Stable performance during > 50 successive, 1 h oxygen reduction/evolution cycles at a current density of 50 mA cm(-2) has been achieved. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.