Recently, the Junkai Wang team from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (School of Carbon Neutrality Future Technology) at Shantou University made new progress in the research field high-performance cathode catalysts for lithium–oxygen batteries. The related research findings were published under the title “The Surface Electronic Structure Reconstruction of Co_2.85Mn_0.15O₄ with High Active Sites for High-Efficient Lithium−Oxygen Batteries” in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (impact factor: 7.6) in the field of chemical materials.

Paper link:

https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c00338

English abstract of the paper:

Spinel structure Co₃O₄ has been used as cathode catalysts for lithium–oxygen batteries, because of the structural stability, abundant oxygen vacancies, and adjustable Co³⁺/Co²⁺ ratio. Most reports focused on adjusting the anion–cation ratio and coordination state in Co₃O₄ to enhance its ORR and OER activities. Based on this, we interfered with the distribution of Co²⁺/Co³⁺ by introducing Mn³⁺. Li₂O₂ was detected as a discharge product by in situ characterization methods, but the charging voltage was only 3.25 V. During charge and discharge, Mn-containing Co₃O₄ has a higher reversible shift of Co³⁺/Co²⁺, and this surface electron reconstitution effect leads to an extremely low overpotential (0.29 V). The surface electronic structure modified strategy and reversibility verification method could be a positive significance in the application of lithium–oxygen batteries, especially for reducing the use of noble metal catalysts.