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Study on Electrolyte Stability and Oxygen Reduction Reaction Mechanisms in the Presence of Manganese Oxide Catalysts for Aprotic Lithium–Oxygen Batteries
Author(s) -
Augustin Matthias,
Fenske Daniela,
Parisi Jürgen
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201600115
Subject(s) - catalysis , electrolyte , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , manganese , dissociation (chemistry) , cyclic voltammetry , oxygen , mesoporous material , lithium (medication) , oxide , electrochemistry , reaction mechanism , electrode , organic chemistry , medicine , endocrinology
The impact of different manganese oxide electrocatalysts on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in aprotic media was investigated. In the absence of a catalyst on pure carbon powder, the ORR was found to proceed partially by O 2 dissociation before reduction. The O adatoms generated during this process have been reported previously to promote the decomposition of aprotic electrolytes. The extent to which this mechanism takes place depends strongly on the potential scan rate applied during the cyclic voltammetry measurements. The presence of manganese oxides has different effects on the reaction mechanism: whereas Mn 3 O 4 and Mn 5 O 8 nanoparticles promote chemical O 2 dissociation, mesoporous α‐Mn 2 O 3 particles suppress this mechanism in favor of the direct reduction of O 2 , thus forming the desired final product Li 2 O 2 . These results lead to a better understanding of the morphological and structural properties, which ideal catalysts for an application in aprotic Li–air batteries should exhibit.