Oxidized Laser‐Induced Graphene for Efficient Oxygen Electrocatalysis

Abstract

An efficient metal-free catalyst is presented for oxygen evolution and reduction based on oxidized laser-induced graphene (LIG-O). The oxidation of LIG by O plasma to form LIG-O boosts its performance in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), exhibiting a low onset potential of 260 mV with a low Tafel slope of 49 mV dec , as well as an increased activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. Additionally, LIG-O shows unexpectedly high activity in catalyzing Li O decomposition in Li-O batteries. The overpotential upon charging is decreased from 1.01 V in LIG to 0.63 V in LIG-O. The oxygen-containing groups make essential contributions, not only by providing the active sites, but also by facilitating the adsorption of OER intermediates and lowering the activation energy.

UV Laser‐Induced Polyimide‐to‐Graphene Conversion: Modeling, Fabrication, and Application

“…[26] Laser manufacturing has become increasingly popular in material fabrication due to its high throughput and patterning capability. Recently, it was demonstrated that a commercial CO 2 infrared laser scriber [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] can be used to in situ form and pattern 3D porous graphene on polyimide (PI), cloth, paper, and food under ambient conditions. In comparison to the laser-reduced graphene method, which uses a laser to reduce graphene oxide (GO) films to graphene, the new laser-induced graphene (LIG) method avoids the use of GO precursors and directly exploits the substrate materials as a carbon source, which greatly simplifies the fabrication process and reduces the cost.…”

Recent Progress on Transition Metal Oxides as Bifunctional Catalysts for Lithium‐Air and Zinc‐Air Batteries

“…Consequently, it is of great significance to investigate alternative catalysts based on non‐noble metals with a comparable catalytic performance but a more economical price . Carbon‐based materials, transition metal oxides (TMOs), phosphides, and nitrides are the most extensively investigated non‐noble metal oxygen electrocatalysts for metal‐air batteries . However, under the high potential required for the electric auxiliary OER process these materials, except of the transition metal oxides, are easily oxidized or hydroxylized, which inevitably results in the decline of battery performance .…”

Li‐Breathing Air Batteries Catalyzed by MnNiFe/Laser‐Induced Graphene Catalysts

“…Our group has recently developed a series of methods to prepare metal oxide/laser‐induced graphene (LIG) composites through facile procedures that are oven‐free . LIG is a 3D porous graphene formed by a one‐step laser scribing process on commercial polyimide (PI, Kapton) film . A typical CO 2 laser cutter as found in most machine shops can be used for this work.…”

“…The charge midvoltage of the fifth cycle in the M111/LIG in the Li–O 2 battery is remarkably lower (0.09 V) than in M311/LIG; however, the charge midvoltage value for the Li–O 2 (M111/LIG) battery kept increasing with the increase in cycle numbers, while the midvoltage value of Li–O 2 (M311/LIG) was much more stable and the charging voltage slightly increased by 0.31 V (Figure S1, Supporting Information). It should be noted that the intrinsic activity of LIG and the gas diffusion layer (carbon fiber paper) have been investigated, both exhibiting poor cycling stability with high overpotentials . The results suggest that higher Mn content leads to a better ORR/OER activity.…”

“…Figure summarizes the morphological changes of the catalysts after a deep discharge–charge cycle as shown by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The typical morphologies of pristine M111/LIG and M311/LIG electrode are shown in Figure a,d, exhibiting a highly porous structure in the LIG‐derived catalysts . These porous structures facilitate the fast diffusion of O 2 , and also provide a conductive and high surface area host that interacts with the electrolyte to maximize the accommodation of discharged products.…”