Inside Cover: An Organic Catalyst for Li–O 2 Batteries: Dilithium Quinone‐1,4‐Dicarboxylate (ChemSusChem 13/2015)

The Inside Cover picture shows that a Li–O 2 battery is expected to be used in electric vehicle applications due to its high theoretical specific energy. A typical Li–O 2 battery contains a lithium‐metal anode, a Li + ‐containing electrolyte, and a porous O 2 cathode. A solid organic catalyst, dilithium quinone‐1,4‐dicarboxylate (Li 2 C 8 H 2 O 6 ) is developed for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) occurring in the Li–O 2 battery. The electrocatalytic performance is evaluated by following the degradation of Li 2 O 2 (depicted in the bottom right corner) during the charge process in a Li–O 2 cell using in situ XRD and operando synchrotron radiation powder XRD measurements. The results indicate that the electrocatalytic activity of Li 2 C 8 H 2 O 6 is similar to that of commercial Pt. The Li 2 O 2 decomposition in a cell using Li 2 C 8 H 2 O 6 as catalyst follows a pseudo‐zero‐order reaction, virtually without any side reactions. More details can be found in the Full paper by Liu et al. (DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201500381 ).