Aprotic Lithium–Air Batteries Tested in Ambient Air with a High‐Performance and Low‐Cost Bifunctional Perovskite Catalyst

Abstract

Aprotic lithium–air batteries (LABs) with remarkably high energy density are facing some challenges, including insufficient cycle stability, high‐cost for applications, and unclear understanding about the mechanism. Seeking high‐performance and low‐cost catalysts is one of the effective solutions to resolve these problems. Perovskite oxide La0.6Sr0.4CoO3 (LSC) together with Fe and Mn doped materials La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3 (LSCF) and La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Mn0.8O3 (LSCM) are prepared and applied as catalysts for LABs, which have been previously studied mostly in a pure oxygen atmosphere and rarely in ambient air. The results show that these catalysts are effective for LABs, and LSCF can improve the capacity and cycle number to 6027 mA h g−1 and 156 at current density of 400 mA g−1 in ambient air. The reasons for performance degradation of LABs tested in ambient air are discussed by EIS spectra and products analysis, which also clarifies the reason for improvement of the LSCF catalyst.

Critical Advances in Ambient Air Operation of Nonaqueous Rechargeable Li–Air Batteries

“…Employing bifunctional electro-catalysts has been verified to facilitate the oxygen redox reactions for Li-air batteries in practical conditions in the absence of OSM. [126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134] After substituting Fe on some of the Mn sites in MnOx, the Mn1.8Fe0.2O3 cathode containing Li-air battery showed showed only 25% capacity loss after 10 cycles in ambient air. [127] A Pd nanolayer was reported to have been deposited in situ on Ni foam via a galvanic exchange method.…”

Bifunctional electrochemical properties of La0.8Sr0.2Co0.8M0.2O3−δ(M = Ni, Fe, Mn, and Cu): efficient elemental doping based on a structural and pH-dependent study

“…Owing to the flexibility in composition, extensive research has been studied in a series of derived perovskite oxides among which La 0.8 Sr 0.2 CoO 3 and its doped perovskite oxides have acted as excellent cathode materials in the solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and used as efficient catalysts for metal air batteries. [16][17][18] However, two main problems exist in the research of the La 0.8 Sr 0.2 CoO 3 -based perovskite oxides. One is that most perovskite oxides have electronic structures that favor only the ORR or OER and their bifunctionality should be carefully combined by tailoring the electronic environment of metal cations and oxygen anions based on a systematic study and design principles.…”

Recent advances in perovskite oxide electrocatalysts for Li–O2 batteries

“…5(f)). 106 The Fe dopant was effective in reducing the grain size of the perovskite nanoparticles, leading to a higher SSA (10.69 m 2 g À1 ) than that of the pristine sample (6.68 m 2 g À1 ) and thus exposing more active sites. Moreover, the introduced Fe 2+ contributed to generating more V o , according to…”