A hammer-like Co₃O₄ was firstly prepared by using metal–organic framework-74 as a template, and then compounded with elemental Ag to fabricate a highly active catalyst with an improved electronic conductivity. The Li–O₂ battery with this prepared catalyst has a specific discharge capacity of 13945 mA·h/g at a current density of 100 mA/g. Even at a high current density of 1000 mA/g, the battery can still maintain a specific discharge capacity of 4476.3 mA·h/g, indicating that it has an excellent rate performance. Also, the cycle performance is greatly improved. For the limited specific capacity of 1000 mA·h/g at the current density of 500 mA/g, the battery with Ag/Co₃O₄ catalyst can be used for 195 cycles, while that with Co₃O₄ catalyst can be used for only 42 cycles.