Electrochemical and catalytic properties of V2O5/Al2O3 in rechargeable Li-O2 batteries

An Al2O3-supported V2O5 composite (V2O5/Al2O3) was synthesized and its role in controlling oxygen reduction/evolution reaction during Li-O2 battery operation was studied. The prepared V2O5/Al2O3 composite catalyst was systematically characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and particle size analysis. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic measurements confirmed the uniform distribution of V2O5 in the Al2O3 support catalyst. Li-O2 cells using the V2O5/Al2O3 composite as the cathode catalyst showed lower overpotentials than V2O5-carbon composites and pure carbon cathodes. The cyclic behavior confirmed that the catalytic effect of the prepared composite not only reduced the overpotentials, but also improved the specific capacities.