A powerful LiO2 battery based on an efficient hollow Cu2O cathode catalyst with tailored crystal plane

Issues with the sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reduction hinder the advance of LiO2 batteries for next-generation energy storage. To alleviate these problems, Cu2O nanoparticles with different crystal planes have been synthesized via a simple solution reaction and characterized as a bi-functional catalyst for non-aqueous LiO2 battery. In this work, catalytic behaviour of Cu2O nanoparticles with different crystal planes are initially explored and it is found that the Cu2O nanoparticles exposing {111} crystal planes exhibit the most catalytic performance compared with other crystal planes, which is further confirmed by using first-principles computations. Inspired by selectively catalytic behaviour of crystal plane, porous Cu2O nanoframes exposed with eight {111} crystal planes and higher surface area derives from all-corner-truncated rhombic dodecahedron Cu2O nanoparticles are synthesized, which can act as highly activity three-dimensional cathode in a typical LiO2 battery after being directly combined with carbon nanotubes by electrostatic interaction. Thanks to the excellent catalytic activity of carbon nanotubes-Cu2O nanoframes and unique cathode structure, batteries with this cathode display an enhanced electrochemical performance including superior round-trip efficiency, excellent cycling performance and high specific capacity.