Fabrication of 3D ordered porous nanocomposites as air cathodes of Li-air battery

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured materials, which show lots of unique properties compared to bulk materials, have contributed to technological innovation in many spheres such as energy storage system, catalyst, and mechanical applications. Among the nano-fabrication methods, Proximity-field nanoPatterning (PnP) allows the facile fabrication of large-area 3D ordered porous nanostructures with high reproducibility. Herein, 3D ordered porous core-shell nanocomposites composed of Ni current collector covered by Pd catalyst layer to facilitate oxygen-related reactions are fabricated and tested as Li-air battery cathodes. Li-air battery with the synthesized cathode delivers a discharge capacity of 1.63 mAh/cm2 at 0.025 mA/cm2. Also, an energy efficiency of 86.6% and stable cycle performance over 90 cycles at the current density of 0.02 mA/cm2 are shown. The low charge overpotential and high cyclability are attributed to the highly ordered 3D Ni/Pd cathodes with high electrical conductivity and catalytic activity.