First fully rechargeable carbon dioxide battery with carbon neutrality

Science Daily  September 26, 2019
Traditionally, when a lithium-carbon dioxide battery discharges, it produces lithium carbonate and carbon. The lithium carbonate recycles during the charge phase, but the carbon blocks the active sites of the catalyst preventing carbon dioxide diffusion, and triggers electrolyte decomposition in a charged state. A team of researchers in the US (University of Illinois, Perdue University, Argonne National Laboratory) used molybdenum disulfide as a cathode catalyst combined with a hybrid electrolyte to help incorporate carbon in the cycling process. The combination of materials produces a single multi-component composite of products rather than separate products, making recycling more efficient. The long cycle life, of 500 for a fixed 500 mAh g−1 capacity per cycle, demonstrates that chemical transformations, making and breaking covalent C-O bonds can be used in energy‐storage systems. The finding paves the way for the use of CO2 in advanced energy‐storage systems…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE