Tailored Plasmonic Ru/O<sub>V</sub>-MoO<sub>2</sub> on TiO<sub>2</sub> Catalysts via Solid-Phase Interface Engineering: Toward Highly Efficient Photoassisted Li–O<sub>2</sub> Batteries with Enhanced Cycling Reliability
Zhichao Xue, Zhizhe Wang, Qiang Li, Dandan Wang, Lei Xiang, Zhihong Mai, Peng Du, Hong Sun, Guozhong Xing
Abstract
The photoassisted electrochemical reactions are considered an effective method to reduce the overpotential of Li–O2 batteries. However, achieving long-term cell cycling stability remains a challenge. Here, we report a solid-phase interfacial reaction (SPIR) strategy that introduces both oxygen vacancies (OV) and metal centers (Ru) into the MoO2 to synthesize the surface plasmon (i.e., Ru/OV-MoO2). Then, Ru/OV-MoO2 can be uniformly loaded on the TiO2 nanowires by the hydrothermal method. The plasma effect of Ru/OV-MoO2 demonstrates the effective reduction of the photoexcited electron and hole recombination to improve visible light-harvesting ability. The lifetime of electrons and holes can be extended by Ru nanoparticles, which is beneficial for promoting the formation and decomposition of Li2O2. In addition, the generated OV further enhanced the migration of electrons and Li+, thus improving the ORR performance. The Ru/OV-MT/CC cathode corroborates excellent stability and catalytic performance in the photoassisted Li–O2 battery, with an overpotential value of 0.47 V, achieving the highest energy efficiency of 93.94%, retaining at 89.13% after 800 h. This work offers a platform for preparing a stable, bifunctional catalyst with the high total activity of a photoassisted Li–O2 battery.