Phy.org August 23, 2018
Two of the more serious issues with Lithium – Oxygen battery involve the cell chemistry of (superoxide, LiO2) and the peroxide product (Li2O2) reacting with the porous carbon cathode, degrading the cell from within. And the superoxide consumes the organic electrolyte in the process, which greatly limits the cycle life. Researchers in Canada switched the organic electrolyte to a more stable inorganic molten salt and the porous carbon cathode to a bifunctional metal oxide catalyst. By operating the battery at 150 C, they found that the more stable product Li2O is formed instead of Li2O2. This results in a highly reversible Li-oxygen battery with coulombic efficiency approaching 100 per cent. The battery maintained excellent charging characteristics, it achieved the maximum four-electron transfer in the system, thereby increasing the theoretical energy storage by 50 per cent…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
A four-electron redox process in a Li-oxygen cell is electrocatalyzed by a bifunctional lithiated nickel oxide-molten salt composite cathode at elevated temperature to form Li2O. Credit: Chun Xia and Chun Yuen Kwok