Abstract
Cathode materials are essential for enhancing electrocatalytic activity in energy-conversion devices. Carbon is one of the most suitable cathodic materials for Li–O2 batteries owing to its chemical and thermal stability. Carbon materials synthesized from tributyl borate (TBB) using a nonthermal solution plasma method were characterized using x‐ray diffraction, Raman, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and were evaluated as additive materials for cathodes in a Li–O2 battery. Two separate carbon materials were formed at the same time, a carbon dispersed in solution and a carbon precipitate at the bottom of the reactor, which had amorphous and graphite-like structures, respectively. The amorphous carbon contained boron and tungsten carbide, and the graphite-like carbon had more defects and electronic conductivity. The crystallinity and density of defects in the graphite-like carbon could be tuned by changing the SP operating frequency. The Li–O2 battery with the amorphous carbon containing boron and tungsten carbide was found to have a high capacity, while the one with the graphite-like carbon showed an affinity for the formation of Li2O2, which is the desired discharge product, and exhibited high cycling performance.
Highlights
The search for cathodic materials or additive materials that can efficiently catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), for application in energy conversion devices such as Li–O2 batteries, has attracted considerable research interest in the last decade
The carbon sample dispersed in the solution was assigned as the in-liquid carbon (LC), while the carbon at the bottom of the solution plasma (SP) reactor was assigned as precipitated carbon (PC)
LC was found to be carbon that was produced during plasma generation, while PC was found to be generated from the adjoining between the electrodes
Summary
The search for cathodic materials or additive materials that can efficiently catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), for application in energy conversion devices such as Li–O2 batteries, has attracted considerable research interest in the last decade. Carbon itself is relatively active for the formation of the desired products generated from ORR during discharging in Li–O2 cells[2]. One of the parameters that influence the formation of discharge products is the surface and bulk structures of the carbon materials that are used as cathodes or a dditives[2,5]. It has been reported that different carbon morphologies could affect the formation of lithium oxide species, which influence the performance of Li–O2 batteries[2,5]. Several techniques such as pyrolysis have been suggested for the preparation of carbon m aterials[6].
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