Toward Promising Cathode Catalysts for Nonlithium Metal–Oxygen Batteries

Abstract

AbstractThe success of Li–air/O2 batteries has brought extensive attention to the development of various promising non‐Li metal–O2 batteries, such as Zn–O2, Al–O2, Mg–O2 batteries, etc., which have exhibited unique advantages, such as low production cost, high energy density, and much enhanced safety. The versatile non‐Li metal–O2 batteries provide a better opportunity for meeting the practical requirements for sustainable energy supplies in various applications. A high‐performance cathode in non‐Li metal–O2 batteries that can effectively trigger both oxygen reduction and evolution reactions and thus boost the overall battery performance is of great research interest. In this article, a comprehensive review on the development of Li‐free metal–O2 batteries and particularly focusing on the oxygen catalytic cathodes for both primary and secondary non‐Li metal–O2 batteries is carefully performed. The current challenges and potential solutions are also outlined and proposed. Through carefully selecting and rationally designing promising catalytic cathodes, a series of non‐Li metal–oxygen batteries toward practical energy storage applications are highly anticipated.