A soil/Vulcan XC-72 hybrid as a highly-effective catalytic cathode for rechargeable Li-O2 batteries

作者：Hu, Xiaofei^*; Fu, Xiaorui; Chen, Jun

来源：Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, 2015, 2(11): 1006-1010.

DOI：10.1039/c5qi00149h

• OXYGEN REDUCTION
• BIFUNCTIONAL CATALYST
• AIR BATTERIES
• CARBON
• NANOPARTICLES
• ELECTRODES
• PHASE

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. A one-step mixing at room temperature is used to synthesize the soil/C hybrid, in which soil particles (0.5-5 mu m) play a role of void volume expanders (VVE) so that the Vulcan XC-72 carbon (similar to 100 nm) area is fully exposed for the deposition of the discharge product. Meanwhile, the outer & inner catalytic sites of carbon particles are sufficiently utilized. When used as a cathode catalyst for rechargeable lithium-oxygen batteries, the soil/C hybrid exhibits a large discharge capacity (7640 mA h g(-1)), robust cyclability (100 cycles at 0.2 mA cm(-2)) and superior rate capability. This high performance is not inferior to noble metal containing catalysts. Therefore, soil as a low cost and metal-free VVE in the soil/C hybrid catalyst is promising in the application of rechargeable Li-O-2 batteries.

• 出版日期2015
• 单位南开大学