Boosting Li–O<sub>2</sub> Battery Performance via Coupling of P–N Site‐Rich N, P Co‐Doped Graphene‐Like Carbon Nanosheets with Nano‐CePO<sub>4</sub>
Di Wu, Shan Wu, Genlei Zhang, Chenyang Hui, Dongjie Cao, Shiyu Guo, Huajie Feng, Qi Wang, Sheng Cheng, Peng Cui, Zhenzhen Yang
Abstract
Abstract Development of efficient and robust cathode catalysts is critical for the commercialization of Li‐O 2 batteries (LOBs). Herein, a well‐designed CePO 4 @N‐P‐CNSs cathode catalyst for LOBs via coupling P‐N site‐rich N, P co‐doped graphene‐like carbon nanosheets (N‐P‐CNSs) with nano‐CePO 4 via a novel “in situ derivation” coupling strategy by in situ transforming the P atoms of P‐C sites in N‐P‐CNSs to CePO 4 is reported. The CePO 4 @N‐P‐CNSs exhibit superior bifunctional ORR/OER activity relative to commercial Pt/C‐RuO 2 with an overall overpotential of 0.64 V (vs RHE). Moreover, the LOB with CePO 4 @N‐P‐CNSs as the cathode catalyst delivers a low charge overpotential of 0.67 V (vs Li/Li + ), high discharge capacity of 29774 mAh g −1 at 100 mA g −1 and long cycling stability of 415 cycles, respectively. The remarkably enhanced LOB performance is attributable to the in situ derived CePO 4 nanoparticles and the P‐N sites in N‐P‐CNSs, which facilitate increased bifunctional ORR/OER activity, promote the rapid and effective decomposition of Li 2 O 2 and inhibit the formation of Li 2 CO 3 . This work may provide new inspiration for designing efficient, durable, and cost‐effective cathode catalysts for LOBs.