Li–air battery and ORR activity of nanocarbons produced with good synthesis rate by solution plasma process

Abstract

Nanocarbons were successfully synthesized from benzene (BZ), nitro-benzene (BZ-NO₂) and aniline (BZ-NH₂) by solution plasma process (SPP). The SPP was generated by a bipolar pulsed power supply between two tungsten electrodes at room temperature. The synthesized nanocarbons were investigated. The highest synthesis rate, 40 mg min⁻¹, was for the BZ nanocarbon. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) morphology showed that the nanocarbon sizes were 15–25 nm. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis shows a highest surface area of 220 m² g⁻¹, pore size of 0.45 cm³ g⁻¹, and average pore diameter of 20.0 nm for the BZ nanocarbon. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) in an acidic medium exhibited the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of the nanocarbons. The nanocarbon from BZ-NH₂ obtained a high special capacity of 15 500 mA h per g of carbon at the discharge rate of 0.1 mA cm⁻² with 1.0 mg carbon loading for the lithium (Li)–air battery. The ORR is an important reaction in Li–air batteries and fuel cells for the application of next-generation batteries and energy conversion devices.