Design strategies toward catalytic materials and cathode structures for emerging Li-CO2 batteries

Integrating energy storage technologies with clean carbon dioxide (CO2) recycling is considered to be a promising solution to alleviate global warming caused by CO2 emission and meet the ever-increasing demand for electrical energy supplies. Recently, a rechargeable aprotic lithium-CO2 (Li-CO2) electrochemical system has been proposed as a new strategy for both energy storage and CO2 capture. However, the study of such a system remains preliminary, and its development still faces huge challenges such as low energy efficiency and electrolyte decomposition caused by a large charge overpotential, which are primarily attributed to the sluggish kinetics of the CO2 activation reaction in Li-CO2 batteries. Therefore, the reasonable design and fabrication of catalysts with excellent catalytic activity and high stability remain a formidable challenge to develop practical Li-CO2 batteries. In this review, based on the introduction of the structure and fundamental electrochemistry of Li-CO2 batteries, we provide an up-to-date and comprehensive review on state-of-the-art design strategies toward highly active catalytic materials and cathode structures for Li-CO2 batteries, inspiring research interests and concerns to this emerging energy storage system and promoting its practical application for future advances in this field.