Nanoengineered Ultralight and Robust All-Metal Cathode for High-Capacity, Stable Lithium–Oxygen Batteries

• Published in: ACS central science Vol. 3; no. 6; pp. 598 - 604
• Main Authors: Xu, Ji-Jing, Chang, Zhi-Wen, Yin, Yan-Bin, Zhang, Xin-Bo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 28.06.2017
• ISSN: 2374-7943; 2374-7951
• DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.7b00120

The successful development of Li–O2 battery technology depends on resolving the issue of cathode corrosion by the discharge product (Li2O2) and/or by the intermediates (LiO2) generated during cell cycling. As an important step toward this goal, we report for the first time the nanoporous Ni with a nanoengineered AuNi alloy surface directly attached to Ni foam as a new all-metal cathode system. Compared with other noncarbonaceous cathodes, the Li–O2 cell with an all-metal cathode is capable of operation with ultrahigh specific capacity (22,551 mAh g–1 at a current density of 1.0 A g–1) and long-term life (286 cycles). Furthermore, compared with the popularly used carbon cathode, the new all-metal cathode is advantageous because it does not show measurable reactivity toward Li2O2 and/or LiO2. As a result, extensive cyclability (40 cycles) with 87.7% Li2O2 formation and decomposition was obtained. These superior properties are explained by the enhanced solvation-mediated formation of the discharge products as well as the tailored properties of the all-metal cathode, including intrinsic chemical stability, high specific surface area, highly porous structure, high conductivity, and superior mechanical stability.