Facile Synthesis of Boron-Doped rGO as Cathode Material for High Energy Li-O2 Batteries

Polyoxometalate Supported Single Transition Metal Atom as a Redox Mediator for Li-O2 Batteries

Keggin-type polyoxometalate (POM) supported single transition metal (TM) atom (TM1/POM) as an efficient soluble redox mediator for Li-O2 batteries is comprehensively investigated by first-principles calculations. Among the pristine POM and four kinds of TM1/POM (TM = Fe, Co, Ni, and Pt), Co1/POM not only maintains good structural and thermodynamic stability in oxidized and reduced states but also exhibits promising electro(chemical) catalytic performance for both oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in Li-O2 batteries with the lowest Gibbs free energy barriers. Further investigations demonstrate that the moderate binding strength of Li2-xO2 (x = 0, 1, and 2) intermediates on Co1/POM guarantees favorable Li2O2 formation and decomposition. Electronic structure analyses indicate that the introduced Co single atom as an electron transfer bridge can not only efficiently improve the electronic conductivity of POM but also regulate the bonding/antibonding states around the Fermi level of [Co1/POM-Li2O2]ox. The solvent effect on the OER catalytic performance and the electronic properties of [Co1/POM-Li2O2]ox with and without dimethyl sulfoxide solvent are also investigated.

Tailoring optical and photocatalytic properties of sulfur-doped boron nitride quantum dots via ligand functionalization

Boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs) have emerged as promising photocatalysts due to their excellent physicochemical properties. This study investigates strategies to enhance the photocatalytic performance of BNQDs through sulfur-doping (S-BNQDs) and edge-functionalization with ligands (urea, thiourea, p-phenyl-enediamine (PPD)). To analyze the geometry, electronic structure, optical absorption, charge transfer, and photocatalytic parameters of pristine and functionalized S-BNQDs, we performed density functional theory calculations. The results showed that S-doping and ligand functionalization tune the bandgap, band energies, and introduce mid-gap states to facilitate light absorption, charge separation, and optimized energetics for photocatalytic redox reactions. Notably, the PPD ligand induced the most substantial bandgap narrowing and absorption edge red-shift by over 1 electron volt (eV) compared to pristine S-BNQD, significantly expanding light harvesting. Additionally, urea and PPD functionalization increased the charge transfer length by up to 2.5 times, effectively reducing recombination. On the other hand, thiourea functionalization yielded the most favorable electron injection energetics. The energy conversion efficiency followed the order: PPD (15.0%) > thiourea (12.0%) > urea (11.0%) > pristine (10.0%). Moreover, urea functionalization maximized the first-order hyperpolarizability, enhancing light absorption. These findings provide valuable insights into tailoring S-BNQDs through strategic doping and functionalization to develop highly efficient, customized photocatalysts for sustainable applications.

Status Quo on Graphene Electrode Catalysts for Improved Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Reactions in Li-Air Batteries

Reduced global warming is the goal of carbon neutrality. Therefore, batteries are considered to be the best alternatives to current fossil fuels and an icon of the emerging energy industry. Voltaic cells are one of the power sources more frequently employed than photovoltaic cells in vehicles, consumer electronics, energy storage systems, and medical equipment. The most adaptable voltaic cells are lithium-ion batteries, which have the potential to meet the eagerly anticipated demands of the power sector. Working to increase their power generating and storage capability is therefore a challenging area of scientific focus. Apart from typical Li-ion batteries, Li-Air (Li-O₂) batteries are expected to produce high theoretical power densities (3505 W h kg^-1), which are ten times greater than that of Li-ion batteries (387 W h kg^-1). On the other hand, there are many challenges to reaching their maximum power capacity. Due to the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OES), the cathode usually faces many problems. Designing robust structured catalytic electrode materials and optimizing the electrolytes to improve their ability is highly challenging. Graphene is a 2D material with a stable hexagonal carbon network with high surface area, electrical, thermal conductivity, and flexibility with excellent chemical stability that could be a robust electrode material for Li-O₂ batteries. In this review, we covered graphene-based Li-O₂ batteries along with their existing problems and updated advantages, with conclusions and future perspectives.

Evolving aprotic Li-air batteries

Lithium-air batteries (LABs) have attracted tremendous attention since the proposal of the LAB concept in 1996 because LABs have a super high theoretical/practical specific energy and an infinite supply of redox-active materials, and are environment-friendly. However, due to the lack of critical electrode materials and a thorough understanding of the chemistry of LABs, the development of LABs entered a germination period before 2010, when LABs research mainly focused on the development of air cathodes and carbonate-based electrolytes. In the growing period, i.e., from 2010 to the present, the investigation focused more on systematic electrode design, fabrication, and modification, as well as the comprehensive selection of electrolyte components. Nevertheless, over the past 25 years, the development of LABs has been full of retrospective steps and breakthroughs. In this review, the evolution of LABs is illustrated along with the constantly emerging design, fabrication, modification, and optimization strategies. At the end, perspectives and strategies are put forward for the development of future LABs and even other metal-air batteries.

Defect-rich boron doped carbon nanotubes as an electrocatalyst for hybrid Li–air batteries

BC3NTs with topological defects improve the performance of hybrid lithium–air batteries, conducive to the ORR and OER.

Application of functionalized graphene in Li-O2 batteries

Li-O₂ batteries (LOB) are considered as one of the most promising energy storage devices using renewable electricity to power electric vehicles because of its exceptionally high energy density. Carbon materials have been widely employed in LOB for its light weight and facile availability. In particular, graphene is a suitable candidate due to its unique two-dimensional structure, high conductivities, large specific surface areas, and good stability at high charge potential. However, the intrinsic catalytic activity of graphene is insufficient for the sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in LOB. Therefore, various surface functionalization schemes for graphene have been developed to tailor the surface chemistry of graphene. In this review, the properties and performances of functionalized graphene cathodes are discussed from theoretical and experimental aspects, including heteroatomic doping, oxygen functional group modifications, and catalyst decoration. Heteroatomic doping breaks electric neutrality of sp² carbon of graphene, which forms electron-deficient or electron-rich sites. Oxygen functional groups mainly create defective edges on graphene oxides with C-O, C=O, and -COO-. Catalyst decoration is widely attempted by various transition and precious metal and metal oxides. These induced reactive sites usually improve the ORR and/or OER in LOB by manipulating the adsorption energies of O₂, LiO₂, Li₂O₂, and promoting electron transportation of cathode. In addition, functionalized graphene is used in anode and separators to prevent shuttle effect of redox mediators and suppress growth of Li dendrite.

Polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide foams as metal-free cathodes for stable lithium-oxygen batteries

Lithium-oxygen batteries (LOBs) are considered as next-generation energy storage devices owing to their high-energy densities, yet they generally suffer from low actual specific capacity and poor cycle performance. To solve these issues, a range of electrocatalysts have been introduced in the cathode to reduce the overpotential during charge/discharge cycles and minimize unwanted side reactions. Due to relative high costs and limited reserves of noble metals and their compounds, it is important to develop low-cost and efficient metal-free electrocatalysts. Here, we report a simple method to prepare three-dimensional porous polyaniline (PANI)/reduced graphene oxide foams (PPGFs) with different PANI contents via a two-step self-assembly process. When these foams are tested as the cathode in LOBs, the device using the PPGF with 50% PANI content exhibits a discharge capacity up to 36 010 mAh g^-1 and an excellent cycling stability (260 cycles at 1000 mAh g^-1 and 500 cycles at 500 mAh g^-1), provid ing new insights into the design of next-generation metal-free cathodes for LOBs.

Low-Thermal-Budget Doping of 2D Materials in Ambient Air Exemplified by Synthesis of Boron-Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide

Graphene oxide (GO) doping and reduction allow for physicochemical property modification to suit practical application needs. Herein, the challenge of simultaneous low-thermal-budget heteroatom doping of GO and its reduction in ambient air is addressed through the synthesis of B-doped reduced GO (B@rGO) by flash irradiation of boric acid loaded onto a GO support with intense pulsed light (IPL). The effects of light power and number of shots on the in-depth sequential doping and reduction mechanisms are investigated by ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and direct millisecond-scale temperature measurements (temperature >1600 °C, < 10-millisecond duration, ramping rate of 5.3 × 105 °C s-1). Single-flash IPL allows the large-scale synthesis of substantially doped B@rGO (≈3.60 at% B) to be realized with a thermal budget 106-fold lower than that of conventional thermal methods, and the prepared material with abundant B active sites is employed for highly sensitive and selective room-temperature NO2 sensing. Thus, this work showcases the great potential of optical annealing for millisecond-scale ultrafast reduction and heteroatom doping of GO in ambient air, which allows the tuning of multiple physicochemical GO properties.

Defect Engineering on Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Batteries

The reasonable design of electrode materials for rechargeable batteries plays an important role in promoting the development of renewable energy technology. With the in-depth understanding of the mechanisms underlying electrode reactions and the rapid development of advanced technology, the performance of batteries has significantly been optimized through the introduction of defect engineering on electrode materials. A large number of coordination unsaturated sites can be exposed by defect construction in electrode materials, which play a crucial role in electrochemical reactions. Herein, recent advances regarding defect engineering in electrode materials for rechargeable batteries are systematically summarized, with a special focus on the application of metal-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, and metal-air batteries. The defects can not only effectively promote ion diffusion and charge transfer but also provide more storage/adsorption/active sites for guest ions and intermediate species, thus improving the performance of batteries. Moreover, the existing challenges and future development prospects are forecast, and the electrode materials are further optimized through defect engineering to promote the development of the battery industry.

Tuning the properties of boron-doped reduced graphene oxide by altering the boron content

Boron-doping enhanced the occurrence of the energy bandgap, the pore structure and interfacial charge transfer characteristics.

Pt/NiO Microsphere Composite as Efficient Multifunctional Catalysts for Nonaqueous Lithium-Oxygen Batteries and Alkaline Fuel Cells: The Synergistic Effect of Pt and Ni

Developing efficient and low-cost multifunctional electrocatalysts is important for electrochemical devices. In this work, a cost-effective Pt/NiO composite with very limited Pt loading (from 0.5 to 3%) was controllably synthesized through facile hydrothermal procedures. The composite demonstrated the improved catalytic performance as applied to the nonaqueous Li-O₂ batteries and the alkaline fuel cells. Regarding the alkaline fuel cells, 1% Pt/NiO composite gave rise to the best Pt distribution and thus exhibited the optimized electrochemical conductivity and properties as suggested by the significantly improved electrochemical reversibility. Meanwhile, the demonstrated 1% Pt/NiO composite presented high catalytic capability as electrode for Li-O₂ batteries, which allowed for much improved capacity utilization, high cycling stability, high initial capacity (2329 mAh/g), and no obvious voltage drop during cycling. Such multiple advantages of prepared composite electrode material offer new prospects and application as multifunctional electrocatalysts for both Li-O₂ batteries and alkaline fuel cells.

Recent Progress on Catalysts for the Positive Electrode of Aprotic Lithium-Oxygen Batteries †

Rechargeable aprotic lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries have attracted significant interest in recent years owing to their ultrahigh theoretical capacity, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, the further development of Li-O2 batteries is hindered by some ineluctable issues, such as severe parasitic reactions, low energy efficiency, poor rate capability, short cycling life and potential safety hazards, which mainly stem from the high charging overpotential in the positive electrode side. Thus, it is of great significance to develop high-performance catalysts for the positive electrode in order to address these issues and to boost the commercialization of Li-O2 batteries. In this review, three main categories of catalyst for the positive electrode of Li-O2 batteries, including carbon materials, noble metals and their oxides, and transition metals and their oxides, are systematically summarized and discussed. We not only focus on the electrochemical performance of batteries, but also pay more attention to understanding the catalytic mechanism of these catalysts for the positive electrode. In closing, opportunities for the design of better catalysts for the positive electrode of high-performance Li-O2 batteries are discussed.

Carbon-Based Metal-Free Catalysts for Energy Storage and Environmental Remediation

Owing to their high earth-abundance, eco-friendliness, high electrical conductivity, large surface area, structure tunability at the atomic/morphological levels, and excellent stability in harsh conditions, carbon-based metal-free materials have become promising advanced electrode materials for high-performance pseudocapacitors and metal-air batteries. Furthermore, carbon-based nanomaterials with well-defined structures can function as green catalysts because of their efficiency in advanced oxidation processes to remove organics in air or from water, which reduces the cost for air/water purification and avoids cross-contamination by eliminating the release of heavy metals/metal ions. Here, the research and development of carbon-based catalysts in supercapacitors and batteries for clean energy storage as well as in air/water treatments for environmental remediation are reviewed. The related mechanistic understanding and design principles of carbon-based metal-free catalysts are illustrated, along with the challenges and perspectives in this emerging field.

Reducing the overpotential of an aprotic Li–O2 battery using a conductive graphene interlayer

A conductive graphene interlayer promotes the decomposition of Li₂O₂, resulting in an ultralow overpotential of a Li–O₂ battery.

Atomic-Thick TiO2(B) Nanosheets Decorated with Ultrafine Co3O4 Nanocrystals As a Highly Efficient Catalyst for Lithium-Oxygen Battery

Development of highly efficient catalysts based on transition metal oxides (TMOs) is desirable and remains a big challenge for lithium-oxygen (Li-O₂) batteries. In the present work, atomic-thick TiO₂(B) nanosheets decorated with ultrafine Co₃O₄ nanocrystals (Co₃O₄-TiO₂(B)) were synthesized and utilized as cathode catalyst in Li-O₂ batteries by designing a hybrid and inducing oxygen vacancies. The XPS characterization results suggested that the introduction of Co₃O₄ nanocrystals could induce numerous oxygen vacancies in the TiO₂(B) nanosheets through Co doping in the hybrid catalyst. The subsequent electrochemical experiments indicated that the Li-O₂ batteries with the prepared hybrid catalysts showed high specific capacity (11000 mAhg^-1), and good cycling stability (200 cycles at a limited capacity of 1000 mAhg^-1) with low polarization (above 2.7 V for discharge medium voltage and below 4.0 V for charge medium voltage within 80 cycles). Furthermore, a possible working mechanism was proposed for a better understanding of the high performance of Co₃O₄-TiO₂(B) catalysts for the Li-O₂ batteries. This work also provided new insights into designing efficient catalysts through interface engineering between 2D (two-dimensional) TMOs and 0D (zero-dimensional) TMOs for Li-O₂ batteries or other catalysis-related fields.

CxNy particles@N-doped porous graphene: a novel cathode catalyst with a remarkable cyclability for Li-O2 batteries

Despite the intrinsic advantages of ultra-high theoretical capacity and energy density of lithium-O2 batteries, there remain several critical issues to be resolved, especially the two concerning poor cyclability and rate capability. In this work, CxNy particles@N-doped porous graphene (CxNy@NPG) with a novel three-dimensional architecture is successfully synthesized via a simple template method and employed as the cathode catalyst of Li-O2 batteries. It is surprisingly found that the as-synthesized CxNy@NPG cathode not only demonstrates a remarkable cycling performance of 200 cycles at 1000 mA g-1 but also an intriguing high-rate capability with 8892 mA h g-1 at 1000 mA g-1, both of which can be attributed to a synergistic effect between the unique 3D porous structure and an effective N-doping. Specifically, it is believed that the unique porous 3D structure will, on one hand, build numerous microchannels, thus facilitating rapid O2 diffusion, and on the other hand, provide sufficient storage space to accommodate adequate discharge products. Indispensably, it is also believed that the N-doped porous graphene enables improved bifunctional catalytic activities towards both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), thus decreasing the discharge/charge overpotential, and reducing undesired side reactions. It is anticipated that the new 3D porous CxNy@NPG provides an inspiring route to design long cycling and high-rate performance cathodes for Li-O2 batteries.

Strategies toward High-Performance Cathode Materials for Lithium-Oxygen Batteries

Rechargeable aprotic lithium (Li)-O₂ batteries with high theoretical energy densities are regarded as promising next-generation energy storage devices and have attracted considerable interest recently. However, these batteries still suffer from many critical issues, such as low capacity, poor cycle life, and low round-trip efficiency, rendering the practical application of these batteries rather sluggish. Cathode catalysts with high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and evolution reaction activities are of particular importance for addressing these issues and consequently promoting the application of Li-O₂ batteries. Thus, the rational design and preparation of the catalysts with high ORR activity, good electronic conductivity, and decent chemical/electrochemical stability are still challenging. In this Review, the strategies are outlined including the rational selection of catalytic species, the introduction of a 3D porous structure, the formation of functional composites, and the heteroatom doping which succeeded in the design of high-performance cathode catalysts for stable Li-O₂ batteries. Perspectives on enhancing the overall electrochemical performance of Li-O₂ batteries based on the optimization of the properties and reliability of each part of the battery are also made. This Review sheds some new light on the design of highly active cathode catalysts and the development of high-performance lithium-O₂ batteries.

Strongly Coupled Carbon Nanosheets/Molybdenum Carbide Nanocluster Hollow Nanospheres for High-Performance Aprotic Li-O2 Battery

A highly efficient oxygen electrode is indispensable for achieving high-performance aprotic lithium-O₂ batteries. Herein, it is demonstrated that strongly coupled carbon nanosheets/molybdenum carbide (α-MoC_1-x ) nanocluster hierarchical hybrid hollow spheres (denoted as MoC_1-x /HSC) can work well as cathode for boosting the performance of lithium-O₂ batteries. The important feature of MoC_1-x /HSC is that the α-MoC_1-x nanoclusters, uniformly incorporated into carbon nanosheets, can not only effectively prevent the nanoclusters from agglomeration, but also help enhance the interaction between the nanoclusters and the conductive substrate during the charge and discharge process. As a consequence, the MoC_1-x /HSC shows significantly improved electrocatalytic performance in an aprotic Li-O₂ battery with greatly reduced charge and discharge overpotentials and long cycle stability. The ex situ scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies reveal that the mechanism for the high-performance Li-O₂ battery using MoC_1-x /HSC as cathode is that the incorporated molybdenum carbide nanoclusters can make oxygen reduction on their surfaces easy, and finally form amorphous film-like Li-deficient Li₂ O₂ with the ability to decompose at a low potential. To the best of knowledge, the MoC_1-x /HSC of this paper is among the best cathode materials for lithium-O₂ batteries reported to date.

Ruthenium oxide modified hierarchically porous boron-doped graphene aerogels as oxygen electrodes for lithium–oxygen batteries

Suitable catalysts and reasonable structures for oxygen electrodes can effectively improve the electrochemical performance of lithium–oxygen batteries. In this work, ruthenium oxide modified boron-doped hierarchically porous reduced graphene aerogels (RuO₂-B-HRG) are prepared by a sol–gel and subsequent low temperature annealing method and used as oxygen electrodes. The RuO₂ nanoparticles (5–10 nm) are uniformly anchored in the three-dimensional B-HRG continuous electric network. The RuO₂-B-HRG aerogel possesses a large specific surface area (287.211 m² g⁻¹) and numerous mesopores and micropores. The pores facilitate electrolyte impregnation and oxygen diffusion, and they provide greatly increased accommodation space for the discharge products. Electrochemical tests show that the RuO₂-B-HRG/KB enables the electrode overpotential to decrease, and the rate capability and the cycling stability are enhanced compared with pure HRG. The enhanced performance is ascribed to the bifunctional catalytic activity of RuO₂-B-HRG and its unique three-dimensional porous architecture. The method is proved to be an effective strategy to combine porous carbon materials and nanoscale catalysts as electrodes for Li–O₂ batteries.

Hierarchically porous RuO₂-B-HRG is a great bifunctional catalyst and effectively improve the performance of non-aqueous Li–O₂ batteries.

Functional and stability orientation synthesis of materials and structures in aprotic Li–O2batteries

This review presents the recent advances made in the functional and stability orientation synthesis of materials/structures for Li–O₂batteries.

Graphene: a promising 2D material for electrochemical energy storage

Graphene, with unique two-dimensional form and numerous appealing properties, promises to remarkably increase the energy density and power density of electrochemical energy storage devices (EESDs), ranging from the popular lithium ion batteries and supercapacitors to next-generation high-energy batteries. Here, we review the recent advances of the state-of-the-art graphene-based materials for EESDs, including lithium ion batteries, supercapacitors, micro-supercapacitors, high-energy lithium-air and lithium-sulfur batteries, and discuss the importance of the pore, doping, assembly, hybridization and functionalization of different nano-architectures in improving electrochemical performance. The major roles of graphene are highlighted as (1) a superior active material, (2) ultrathin 2D flexible support, and (3) an inactive yet electrically conductive additive. Furthermore, we address the enormous potential of graphene for constructing new-concept emerging graphene-enabled EESDs with multiple functionalities of lightweight, ultra-flexibility, thinness, and novel cell configurations. Finally, future perspectives and challenges of graphene-based EESDs are briefly discussed.

Ultrahigh-Capacity Lithium-Oxygen Batteries Enabled by Dry-Pressed Holey Graphene Air Cathodes

Lithium-oxygen (Li-O₂) batteries have the highest theoretical energy density of all the Li-based energy storage systems, but many challenges prevent them from practical use. A major obstacle is the sluggish performance of the air cathode, where both oxygen reduction (discharge) and oxygen evolution (charge) reactions occur. Recently, there have been significant advances in the development of graphene-based air cathode materials with a large surface area and catalytically active for both oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, especially with additional catalysts or dopants. However, most studies reported so far have examined air cathodes with a limited areal mass loading rarely exceeding 1 mg/cm². Despite the high gravimetric capacity values achieved, the actual (areal) capacities of those batteries were far from sufficient for practical applications. Here, we present the fabrication, performance, and mechanistic investigations of high-mass-loading (up to 10 mg/cm²) graphene-based air electrodes for high-performance Li-O₂ batteries. Such air electrodes could be easily prepared within minutes under solvent-free and binder-free conditions by compression-molding holey graphene materials because of their unique dry compressibility associated with in-plane holes on the graphene sheet. Li-O₂ batteries with high air cathode mass loadings thus prepared exhibited excellent gravimetric capacity as well as ultrahigh areal capacity (as high as ∼40 mAh/cm²). The batteries were also cycled at a high curtailing areal capacity (2 mAh/cm²) and showed a better cycling stability for ultrathick cathodes than their thinner counterparts. Detailed post-mortem analyses of the electrodes clearly revealed the battery failure mechanisms under both primary and secondary modes, arising from the oxygen diffusion blockage and the catalytic site deactivation, respectively. These results strongly suggest that the dry-pressed holey graphene electrodes are a highly viable architectural platform for high-capacity, high-performance air cathodes in Li-O₂ batteries of practical significance.

Recent developments of aprotic lithium-oxygen batteries: functional materials determine the electrochemical performance

Lithium oxygen battery has the highest theoretical capacity among the rechargeable batteries and it can reform energy storage technology if it comes to commercialization. However, many critical challenges, mainly embody as low charge/discharge round-trip efficiency and poor cycling stability, impede the development of Li-O₂ batteries. The electrolyte decomposition, lithium metal anode corrosion and sluggish oxygen reaction kinetics at cathode are all responsible for poor electrochemical performances. Particularly, the catalytic cathode of Li-O₂ batteries, playing a crucial role to reduce the oxygen during discharging and to decompose discharge products during charging, is regarded as a breakthrough point that has been comprehensive investigated. In this review, the progress and issues of electrolyte, anode and cathode, especially the catalysts used at cathode, are systematically summarized and discussed. Then the perspectives toward the developments of a long life Li-O₂ battery are also presented at last.