Nickel-Doped La0.8Sr0.2Mn1-xNixO3 Nanoparticles Containing Abundant Oxygen Vacancies as an Optimized Bifunctional Catalyst for Oxygen Cathode in Rechargeable Lithium-Air Batteries

In this work, Ni-doped manganite perovskite oxides (La0.8Sr0.2Mn1-xNixO3, x = 0.2 and 0.4) and undoped La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 were synthesized via a general and facile sol gel route and used as bifunctional catalysts for oxygen cathode in rechargeable lithium air batteries. The structural and compositional characterization results showed that the obtained La0.8Sr0.2Mn1-xNixO3 (x = 0.2 and 0.4) contained more oxygen vacancies than did the undoped La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 as well as a certain amount of Ni3+ (e(g) = 1) on their surface. The Ni-doped La0.8Sr0.2Mn1-xNixO3 (x = 0.2 and 0.4)-was provided with higher bifunctional catalytic activities than that of the undoped La0 8Sr0.2MnO3. In particular, the La0.8Sr0.2Mn0.6Ni0.4O3 had a lower total over potential between the oxygen evolution reaction and the oxygen reduction reaction than that of the La0.8Sr0.2MnO3, and the value is even comparable to that of the commercial Pt/C yet is provided with a much reduced cost. In the lithium air battery, oxygen cathodes containing the La0.8Sr0.2Mn0.6Ni0.4O3 catalyst delivered the optimized electrochemical performance in terms of specific capacity and cycle life, and a reasonable reaction mechanism was given to explain the improved performance.