Nanoparticulate Materials for Lithium-air Batteries

Abstract

The increase in energetic consumption followed by the environmental warning due to excessive gas emission creates a favorable scenario to research and develop new technologies clean and more efficient for energy sources. In this context, a promising alternative is develop new technologies like lithium air batteries to apply in energy storage and conversion. These batteries are formed by a metallic lithium anode, a porous cathode for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution. The theoretical energy provided, compared to others commercialized technologies are five or ten fold improved (13 kW.h.kg-1), fact that has become attractive the study concerning the mechanisms occurring during the discharge and charge processes in these batteries. The main goal of this project is synthesize platinum and gold nanoparticles dispersed in carbon matrix, additionally the kinetic and mechanistic process occurred on ORR in aprotic electrolytes will be studied. For these studies cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) will be used to analyze and obtain information of ORR, while, the structure, morphology and particles size will be verified with electron microscope techniques and x-ray diffraction.