Ruthenium-Based Electrocatalysts Supported on Reduced Graphene Oxide for Lithium-Air Batteries

• Published in: ACS nano Vol. 7; no. 4; pp. 3532 - 3539
• Main Authors: Jung, Hun-Gi, Jeong, Yo Sub, Park, Jin-Bum, Sun, Yang-Kook, Scrosati, Bruno, Lee, Yun Jung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 23.04.2013
• Subjects: Adsorption; Air; Catalysis; Charge; Density; Electric Power Supplies; Electrocatalysts; Electrolytes; Electrolytic cells; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Graphene; Graphite - chemistry; Lithium - chemistry; Nanomaterials; Nanomedicine; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanostructure; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nanostructures - ultrastructure; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxides; Oxides - chemistry; Particle Size; Ruthenium - chemistry; reduced graphene oxide; lithium-air battery; supported catalysts; ruthenium oxide; organic electrolyte
• ISSN: 1936-0851; 1936-086X
• DOI: 10.1021/nn400477d

Ruthenium-based nanomaterials supported on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have been investigated as air cathodes in non-aqueous electrolyte Li-air cells using a TEGDME-LiCF3SO3 electrolyte. Homogeneously distributed metallic ruthenium and hydrated ruthenium oxide (RuO2·0.64H2O), deposited exclusively on rGO, have been synthesized with average size below 2.5 nm. The synthesized hybrid materials of Ru-based nanoparticles supported on rGO efficiently functioned as electrocatalysts for Li2O2 oxidation reactions, maintaining cycling stability for 30 cycles without sign of TEGDME-LiCF3SO3 electrolyte decomposition. Specifically, RuO2·0.64H2O-rGO hybrids were superior to Ru-rGO hybrids in catalyzing the OER reaction, significantly reducing the average charge potential to ∼3.7 V at the high current density of 500 mA g–1 and high specific capacity of 5000 mAh g–1.