High-Performance Li-CO2 Batteries with α-MnO2/CNT Cathodes

A rechargeable Li-CO 2 battery has been considered to be a promising battery system due to its high-energy density and the utilization of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). However, the high overvoltage caused by the discharge product Li 2 CO 3 hinders the development of Li-CO 2 batteries. In this work, α-MnO 2 nanowires obtained via a redox reaction have been employed as the cathode catalyst in the Li-CO 2 battery, which can provide sufficient catalytic sites for CO 2 evolution and tune the cathode structure for the uniform distribution of Li 2 CO 3 and C on the cathode. The Li-CO 2 battery with an MnO 2 /carbon nanotube (CNT) cathode exhibits significantly reduced overpotential, and could be operated for 50 cycles with a fixed capacity of 1000 mAh g −1 and 6 cycles of full discharge–charge tests at a current density of 100 mA g −1 .