Issue 27, 2011

Oxygen reduction reaction catalyst on lithium/air battery discharge performance

Abstract

Lithium/air batteries have the potential to substantially outperform the best battery system nowadays on the market. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode in an aprotic organic lithium electrolyte is well-known to limit the discharge rate and capacity of the lithium/air batteries. In this study, the discharge characteristics of Li/air cells with cathodes made of different carbon materials were examined. The results showed that the ORR kinetics in the lithium/air batteries can be drastically improved by using an effective catalyst, achieving higher discharge voltage and rate. The discharge capacity of the lithium/air battery was found to be correlated to the cathode pore volume, to which the mesopore volume of the carbon material has a large contribution. An ORR mechanistic model involving a reaction product deactivating the catalytic sites on the carbon surface is proposed to explain the experimental results.

Graphical abstract: Oxygen reduction reaction catalyst on lithium/air battery discharge performance

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 Nov 2010
Accepted
25 Jan 2011
First published
21 Feb 2011

J. Mater. Chem., 2011,21, 10118-10125

Oxygen reduction reaction catalyst on lithium/air battery discharge performance

X. Ren, S. S. Zhang, D. T. Tran and J. Read, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 10118 DOI: 10.1039/C0JM04170J

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