Mesoporous carbon nitride loaded with Pt nanoparticles as a bifunctional air electrode for rechargeable lithium-air battery

A composite comprised of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst was designed and applied as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for the air electrode of the lithium-air battery. The ordered mesoporous carbon nitride (MCN) prepared by a nano hard-templating approach displayed a surface area as high as 648 m(2) g(-1) and a large pore volume of 0.7 cm(3) g(-1) and acted as both the ORR catalyst and the support for the in situ-formed OER catalyst of Pt particles with a diameter of 3-4 nm. The electrochemical performances of the electrode were examined in a solid-state lithium-air cell structured as Li/LATP-based electrolyte/cathode, which demonstrated a higher round-trip efficiency and lower overpotential compared with the Pt@AB and MCN electrodes. The combination of the OER and ORR catalysts is proved as an effective way to improve the performance of lithium-air batteries.