In Situ Formed Ir3Li Nanoparticles as Active Cathode Material in Li–Oxygen Batteries

Lithium–oxygen (Li–O2) batteries are a promising class of rechargeable Li batteries with a potentially very high achievable energy density. One of the major challenges for Li–O2 batteries is the high charge overpotential, which results in a low energy efficiency. In this work size-selected subnanometer Ir clusters are used to investigate cathode materials that can help control lithium superoxide formation during discharge, which has good electronic conductivity needed for low charge potentials. It is found that Ir particles can lead to lithium superoxide formation as the discharge product with Ir particle sizes of ∼1.5 nm giving the lowest charge potentials. During discharge these 1.5 nm Ir nanoparticles surprisingly evolve to larger ones while incorporating Li to form core–shell structures with Ir3Li shells, which probably act as templates for growth of lithium superoxide during discharge. Various characterization techniques including DEMS, Raman, titration, and HRTEM are used to characterize the LiO2 discharge product and the evolution of the Ir nanoparticles. Density functional calculations are used to provide insight into the mechanism for formation of the core–shell Ir3Li particles. The in situ formed Ir3Li core–shell nanoparticles discovered here provide a new direction for active cathode materials that can reduce charge overpotentials in Li–O2 batteries.