MnO Nanocubes Enabling Charging Potential of Li-O₂ Batteries to 3.25 V in a LiMnO₄-dominated Novel Reaction Mechanism

Abstract

We proposed a strategy to address the issue by synthesizing MnO with half-filled 3 d electron orbitals. That is, MnO nanocubes with an edge length of 61.82 nm were successfully prepared through electros-pinning and one-step pyrolysis as the cathode electrode for Li-O₂ batteries. It is observed that the intermediate LiMnO₄ rather than Li₂O₂ is formed when LiO₂ interactes with MnO (111) during the discharge process. It is precisely because of LiMnO₄ that reduces its charge overpotential to 0.29 V. The novel reaction mechanism dominated by LiMnO₄ further facilitates the lower charge overpotential, thereby enhancing the energy efficiency of the batteries.

Keywords

MnO nanocubes / LiMnO₄ / low charge overpotential / Li-O₂ batteries

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Wuhan University of Technology and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, Part of Springer Nature