Science Daily February 10, 2022
An international team of researchers (Australia, China, USA – Argonne National Laboratory) describe the details of an Li-O2 battery operated via a new quenching/mediating mechanism that relies on the direct chemical reactions between a versatile molecule and superoxide radical/Li2O2. The battery exhibits a 46-fold increase in discharge capacity, a low charge overpotential of 0.7 V, and an ultralong cycle life greater than 1400 cycles. Redox-active 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy moieties bridged by a quenching-active perylene diimide backbone acts as a redox mediator to catalyze discharge/charge reactions and serves as a reusable superoxide quencher to chemically react with superoxide species generated during battery operation. The molecule can simultaneously tackle issues of parasitic reactions associated with superoxide radicals, singlet oxygen, high overpotentials, and lithium corrosion. The research opens a new avenue for developing high-performance Li-O2 batteries…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Investigation of the redox capability of PDI-TEMPO in electrolytes… Credit: SCIENCE ADVANCES, 21 Jan 2022, Vol 8, Issue 3