High surface area, mesoporous carbon for low-polarization, catalyst-free lithium oxygen battery

Here we report a low polarization, catalyst-free lithium-oxygen battery using mesoporous carbon electrode. BET analysis, SEM and TEM images evidence that the carbon material has surface area as high as 1500 m2 g-1 and a uniform distribution of nanometric pores. Furthermore, X-ray diffraction analysis and TEM images of the reaction products show that the favourable effect of the mesoporous carbon is due to the formation of amorphous nano-particles of lithium peroxide during the electrochemical process. The results of this study clearly indicate the important role of the carbon matrix in determining a favourable morphology of the lithium-oxygen reaction product that leads to enhanced cell behaviour.