Recent Advances in Nanostructured Transition Metal Carbide- and Nitride-Based Cathode Electrocatalysts for Li–O2 Batteries (LOBs): A Brief Review

Abstract

A large volume of research on lithium–oxygen (Li–O2) batteries (LOBs) has been conducted in the recent decades, inspired by their high energy density and power density. However, these future generation energy-storage devices are still subject to technical limitations, including a squat round-trip efficiency and a deprived rate-capability, due to the slow-moving electrochemical kinetics of both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) over the surface of the cathode catalyst. Because the electrochemistry of LOBs is rather complex, only a limited range of cathode catalysts has been employed in the past. To understand the catalytic mechanisms involved and improve overall cell performance, the development of new cathode electrocatalysts with enhanced round-trip efficiency is extremely important. In this context, transition metal carbides and nitrides (TMCs and TMNs, respectively) have been explored as potential catalysts to overcome the slow kinetics of electrochemical reactions. To provide an accessible and up-to-date summary for the research community, the present paper reviews the recent advancements of TMCs and TMNs and its applications as active electrocatalysts for LOBs. In particular, significant studies on the rational design of catalysts and the properties of TMC/TMN in LOBs are discussed, and the prospects and challenges facing the continued development of TMC/TMN electrocatalysts and strategies for attaining higher OER/ORR activity in LOBs are presented.

Hybrid zinc‐air battery (ZAB) with transition metal‐based electrocatalysts—A step toward next‐generation electrochemical energy storage

“…2D Mxenes and their composites exhibit high round-trip efficiency in comparison with bulk transition metal carbides. But one of the main disadvantages of Mxenes is that the synthesis route is tedious and costly, thus we need to come up with a low-cost and eco-friendly fabrication technique (Karuppasamy et al, 2020).…”

Recent progress in metal–organic framework/graphene-derived materials for energy storage and conversion: design, preparation, and application

“…Recently, metal carbides and nitrides have garnered much attention because of their high intrinsic conductivity, robust structural stability, abundant catalytic reaction sites, and low cost. 173,174 Unfortunately, the unmodied pure materials make it difficult to meet the actual needs due to their unfavorable reaction activity. MOF/graphene-derived metal carbides and nitrides can signicantly facilitate the reaction kinetics, mainly because the small particles encapsulated in the MOF derived carbon matrix will expose more active sites.…”

Investigation on the Structure–Performance Correlation of TiC MXenes as Cathode Catalysts for Li-O2 Batteries

“…Over the past few decades, various types of materials have been studied as cathode catalyst in Li-O 2 batteries, such as precious metals and their alloys, − functional carbon materials, , transition-metal oxides (TMOs), − transitional-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), , transition-metal carbides (TMCs)/nitrides (TMNs), − redox mediators (RMs), − metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), − and other composite structure electrocatalysts. − Among them, TiC has been investigated intensively and shows great potential to be utilized as a cathode catalyst in Li-O 2 batteries. TiC exhibits high catalytic activity and cycle stability, which can effectively reduce side reactions resulting from the decomposition of electrode/electrolyte. ,, Moreover, the surface of TiC is easily oxidized and the oxidized TiC surface acts as the real reaction state that not only increases the stability and conductivity but also catalyzes the decomposition of Li 2 O 2 . , , However, compared with porous gold and mesoporous carbon, the limited specific surface area of TiC results in its lower energy density.…”