Boosting Cycling Stability and Rate Capability of Li–CO<sub>2</sub> Batteries via Synergistic Photoelectric Effect and Plasmonic Interaction
Kun Zhang, Jiaxin Li, Weijie Zhai, Chuanfa Li, Zhengfeng Zhu, Xinyue Kang, Meng Liao, Lei Ye, Taoyi Kong, Chuang Wang, Yang Zhao, Peining Chen, Yue Gao, Bingjie Wang, Huisheng Peng
Abstract
Abstract Sluggish CO 2 reduction/evolution kinetics at cathodes seriously impede the realistic applications of Li–CO 2 batteries. Herein, synergistic photoelectric effect and plasmonic interaction are introduced to accelerate CO 2 reduction/evolution reactions by designing a silver nanoparticle‐decorated titanium dioxide nanotube array cathode. The incident light excites energetic photoelectrons/holes in titanium dioxide to overcome reaction barriers, and induces the intensified electric field around silver nanoparticles to enable effective separation/transfer of photogenerated carriers and a thermodynamically favorable reaction pathway. The resulting Li–CO 2 battery demonstrates ultra‐low charge voltage of 2.86 V at 0.10 mA cm −2 , good cycling stability with 86.9 % round‐trip efficiency after 100 cycles, and high rate capability at 2.0 mA cm −2 . This work offers guidance on rational cathode design for advanced Li–CO 2 batteries and beyond.