Vertically aligned N-doped coral-like carbon fiber arrays as efficient air electrodes for high-performance nonaqueous Li-O2 batteries

Carbon Cathodes in Rechargeable Lithium-Oxygen Batteries Based on Double-Lithium-Salt Electrolytes

The use of carbon materials as air electrodes in lithium-oxygen (Li-O2 ) batteries is known to be advantageous owing to their good conductivity and because they offer sites suitable for the reversible electrode reactions. However, the exact influence of carbon materials on the electrochemical performance of Li-O2 batteries is not clear. In this study the electrochemical performance of four different types of carbon materials (multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), CMK-3, graphene nanosheets (GNSs), and Ketjen Black (KB)) as air electrodes is examined. We find that a Li-O2 cell based on an electrode of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) demonstrates good rate performance and cycle stability, when using LiNO3 -LiTFSI/DMSO as electrolyte. Li-O2 cells based on such MWCNT electrodes, with a cut-off capacity of 1000 mAh g(-1) at 500 mA g(-1) , can undergo around 90 cycles without obvious losses of capacity. Even when the discharge depth is increased to 2000 mA h g(-1) , stable cycling is maintained for 45 cycles at a charge potential below 4.0 V.

Scalable Fabrication of Nanoporous Carbon Fiber Films as Bifunctional Catalytic Electrodes for Flexible Zn-Air Batteries

A flexible nanoporous carbon-fiber film for wearable electronics is prepared by a facile and scalable method through pyrolysis of electrospun polyimide. It exhibits excellent bifunctional electrocatalytic activities for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution. Flexible rechargeable zinc-air batteries based on the carbon-fiber film show high round-trip efficiency and mechanical stability.

Electrospun Pd-doped mesoporous carbon nano fibres as catalysts for rechargeable Li–O2batteries

Mesoporous carbon nanofibres doped with palladium nanoparticles (Pd CNFs) are synthesized by electrospinning with subsequent thermal treatment processes and used as electro-catalysts at the oxygen cathode of Li–O₂batteries.

Lithium–air battery cathode modification via an unconventional thermal method employing borax

A novel approach for the preparation of porous carbon materials and its successful application for the carbon electrode of lithium air batteries is demonstrated.

Functionalized carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials for energy storage

This feature article summarizes recent progress in the functionalization of carbon nanotubes and graphene for energy storage applications in supercapacitors and batteries.

The Effect of Potassium Impurities Deliberately Introduced into Activated Carbon Cathodes on the Performance of Lithium-Oxygen Batteries

Rechargeable lithium-air (Li-O2) batteries have drawn much interest owing to their high energy density. We report on the effect of deliberately introducing potassium impurities into the cathode material on the electrochemical performance of a Li-O2 battery. Small amounts of potassium introduced into the activated carbon (AC) cathode material in the synthesis process are found to have a dramatic effect on the performance of the Li-O2 cell. An increased amount of potassium significantly increases capacity, cycle life, and round-trip efficiency. This improved performance is probably due to a larger amount of LiO2 in the discharge product, which is a mixture of LiO2 and Li2O2, resulting from the increase in the amount of potassium present. No substantial correlation with porosity or surface area in an AC cathode is found. Experimental and computational studies indicate that potassium can act as an oxygen reduction catalyst, which can account for the dependence of performance on the amount of potassium.

Hierarchical Nitrogen-Doped Graphene/Carbon Nanotube Composite Cathode for Lithium-Oxygen Batteries

The lithium-oxygen (Li-O2 ) battery is a very appealing candidate for advanced high energy applications owing to its exceptionally high specific energy. However, its poor energy efficiency, rate capability, and cyclability remain key barriers to its practical application. In this work, using a rationally designed cathode based on a bimodal mesoporous nitrogen-doped graphene/carbon nanotube (NGC) composite, we have developed a Li-O2 battery demonstrating enhanced round-trip efficiency (ca. 85 %) and excellent cyclability over 400 cycles under a high current rate of 500 mA g(-1) . The excellent cyclability and rate capability are attributed to improved stability of the aggressive LiO2 intermediate on the nitrogen-doped carbon surface in addition to the favorable hierarchical architecture of NGC. These results demonstrate a valuable research direction to achieve highly stable and reversible Li-O2 batteries through tuning the surface chemistry of the cathode in addition to finding a stable electrolyte solvent.

In Situ-Grown ZnCo2O4 on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as Air Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium-Oxygen Batteries

The development of highly efficient catalysts is critical for the practical application of lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries. Nanosheet-assembled ZnCo2O4 (ZCO) microspheres and thin films grown in situ on single-walled carbon nanotube (ZCO/SWCNT) composites as high-performance air electrode materials for Li-O2 batteries are reported. The in situ grown ZCO/SWCNT electrodes delivered high discharge capacities, decreased the onset of the oxygen evolution reaction by 0.9 V during the charging process, and led to longer cycling stability. These results indicate that in situ grown ZCO/SWCNT composites can be used as highly efficient air electrode materials for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. The enhanced catalytic activity displayed by the uniformly dispersed ZCO catalyst on nanostructured electrodes is expected to inspire further development of other catalyzed electrodes for Li-O2 batteries and other applications.

Carbon-based electrocatalysts for advanced energy conversion and storage

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) play curial roles in electrochemical energy conversion and storage, including fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Having rich multidimensional nanoarchitectures [for example, zero-dimensional (0D) fullerenes, 1D carbon nanotubes, 2D graphene, and 3D graphite] with tunable electronic and surface characteristics, various carbon nanomaterials have been demonstrated to act as efficient metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR and OER in fuel cells and batteries. We present a critical review on the recent advances in carbon-based metal-free catalysts for fuel cells and metal-air batteries, and discuss the perspectives and challenges in this rapidly developing field of practical significance.

MnCo2O4 nanowires anchored on reduced graphene oxide sheets as effective bifunctional catalysts for Li-O2 battery cathodes

A hybrid composite system of MnCo2 O4 nanowires (MCO NWs) anchored on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets was prepared as the bifunctional catalyst of a Li-O2 battery cathode. The catalysts can be obtained from the hybridization of one-dimensional MCO NWs and two-dimensional RGO nanosheets. As O2 -cathode catalysts for Li-O2 cells, the MCO@RGO composites showed a high initial discharge capacity (ca. 11092.1 mAh gcarbon (-1) ) with a high rate performance. The Li-O2 cells could run for more than 35 cycles with high reversibility under a limited specific capacity of 1000 mAh gcarbon (-1) with a low potential polarization of 1.36 V, as compared with those of pure Ketjenblack and MCO NWs. The high cycling stability, low potential polarization, and rate capability suggest that the MCO@RGO composites prepared here are promising catalyst candidates for highly reversible Li-O2 battery cathodes.

The lithium/air battery: still an emerging system or a practical reality?

Lithium/air is a fascinating energy storage system. The effective exploitation of air as a battery electrode has been the long-time dream of the battery community. Air is, in principle, a no-cost material characterized by a very high specific capacity value. In the particular case of the lithium/air system, energy levels approaching that of gasoline have been postulated. It is then not surprising that, in the course of the last decade, great attention has been devoted to this battery by various top academic and industrial laboratories worldwide. This intense investigation, however, has soon highlighted a series of issues that prevent a rapid development of the Li/air electrochemical system. Although several breakthroughs have been achieved recently, the question on whether this battery will have an effective economic and societal impact remains. In this review, a critical evaluation of the progress achieved so far is made, together with an attempt to propose future R&D trends. A forecast on whether Li/air may have a role in the next years' battery technology is also postulated.

N-doped carbon nanomaterials are durable catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction in acidic fuel cells

The availability of low-cost, efficient, and durable catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a prerequisite for commercialization of the fuel cell technology. Along with intensive research efforts of more than half a century in developing nonprecious metal catalysts (NPMCs) to replace the expensive and scarce platinum-based catalysts, a new class of carbon-based, low-cost, metal-free ORR catalysts was demonstrated to show superior ORR performance to commercial platinum catalysts, particularly in alkaline electrolytes. However, their large-scale practical application in more popular acidic polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells remained elusive because they are often found to be less effective in acidic electrolytes, and no attempt has been made for a single PEM cell test. We demonstrated that rationally designed, metal-free, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes and their graphene composites exhibited significantly better long-term operational stabilities and comparable gravimetric power densities with respect to the best NPMC in acidic PEM cells. This work represents a major breakthrough in removing the bottlenecks to translate low-cost, metal-free, carbon-based ORR catalysts to commercial reality, and opens avenues for clean energy generation from affordable and durable fuel cells.

A mesoporous catalytic membrane architecture for lithium-oxygen battery systems

Controlling the mesoscale geometric configuration of catalysts on the oxygen electrode is an effective strategy to achieve high reversibility and efficiency in Li-O2 batteries. Here we introduce a new Li-O2 cell architecture that employs a catalytic polymer-based membrane between the oxygen electrode and the separator. The catalytic membrane was prepared by immobilization of Pd nanoparticles on a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber membrane and is adjacent to a carbon nanotube electrode loaded with Ru nanoparticles. During oxide product formation, the insulating PAN polymer scaffold restricts direct electron transfer to the Pd catalyst particles and prevents the direct blockage of Pd catalytic sites. The modified Li-O2 battery with a catalytic membrane showed a stable cyclability for 60 cycles with a capacity of 1000 mAh/g and a reduced degree of polarization (∼ 0.3 V) compared to cells without a catalytic membrane. We demonstrate the effects of a catalytic membrane on the reaction characteristics associated with morphological and structural features of the discharge products via detailed ex situ characterization.

Direct growth of flower-like 3D MnO2 ultrathin nanosheets on carbon paper as efficient cathode catalyst for rechargeable Li–O2 batteries

Structure and working mechanism of the MnO₂/CP air electrode.

Carbon microspheres air electrode for rechargeable Li–O2 batteries

Carbon microspheres (CMs) were synthesized by a reflux-calcination method and showed a large BET surface area of 626.919 m² g⁻¹, a typical micropore structure and good electrochemical properties.

Synthesis of B-doped hollow carbon spheres as efficient non-metal catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Synthesis scheme and morphology of B-doped hollow carbon spheres applied as an efficient non-metal catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction.

A soil/Vulcan XC-72 hybrid as a highly-effective catalytic cathode for rechargeable Li–O2batteries

We report for the first time a hybrid of soil and commercial Vulcan XC-72 carbon (labeled as soil/C) as a high-performance cathode catalyst for rechargeable lithium–oxygen batteries. It was found that soil as a low cost and metal-free void volume expander in the hybrid catalyst is promising in the application of rechargeable Li–O₂batteries.

Carbon-, binder-, and precious metal-free cathodes for non-aqueous lithium-oxygen batteries: nanoflake-decorated nanoneedle oxide arrays

Rechargeable lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries have higher theoretical energy densities than today's lithium-ion batteries and are consequently considered to be an attractive energy storage technology to enable long-range electric vehicles. The main constituents comprising a cathode of a lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) battery, such as carbon and binders, suffer from irreversible decomposition, leading to significant performance degradation. Here, carbon- and binder-free cathodes based on nonprecious metal oxides are designed and fabricated for Li-O2 batteries. A novel structure of the oxide-only cathode having a high porosity and a large surface area is proposed that consists of numerous one-dimensional nanoneedle arrays decorated with thin nanoflakes. These oxide-only cathodes with the tailored architecture show high specific capacities and remarkably reduced charge potentials (in comparison with a carbon-only cathode) as well as excellent cyclability (250 cycles).

A Li-O₂/air battery using an inorganic solid-state air cathode

The "(-) lithium (Li) anode|organic anolyte + inorganic catholyte|solid-state cathode (+)" Li-O2/air battery based on an inorganic solid-state air cathode was fabricated with a simple method. The electrochemical performance and reaction products of the Li-O2/air batteries under pure O2 and ambient air were investigated, respectively. The inorganic Li-ion conductive solid-state electrolyte Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 was stable during cycling and avoided the decomposition and volatilization problems that conventional organic electrolytes faced. Moreover, the porous air cathode provided a sufficient gas-phase O2-transport channel, facilitating the achievement of a high capacity of 14192 or 7869 mA h g(-1) under pure O2 or ambient air, respectively. Our results demonstrate that the Li-O2/air battery using an inorganic porous air cathode has a great potential for practical application.

Facile synthesis of spinel CuCo2O4 nanocrystals as high-performance cathode catalysts for rechargeable Li–air batteries

CuCo₂O₄ nanoparticles have been synthesized by a simple and low-cost urea combustion method and characterized as bifunctional catalysts for non-aqueous Li–air batteries.