Issue 11, 2015

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

Abstract

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 μm) play a role of void volume expanders (VVE) so that the Vulcan XC-72 carbon (∼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–O2 batteries.

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

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
13 aug 2015
Accepted
09 sep 2015
First published
10 sep 2015

Inorg. Chem. Front., 2015,2, 1006-1010

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

X. Hu, X. Fu and J. Chen, Inorg. Chem. Front., 2015, 2, 1006 DOI: 10.1039/C5QI00149H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements