Improvement of Electrochemical Properties of Lithium–Oxygen Batteries Using a Silver Electrode

Abstract

Silver (Ag) electrodes are prepared by an electrodeposition method at −0.25 V versus SCE. To evaluate the effect of particle size on Li–air cells, deposition times are 3, 10, 30, and 300 s. When cycled at a current density of 0.032 mA cm^–2, the Ag-deposited electrode for 300 s shows very low polarization corresponding to the oxygen evolution reaction potential at 3.6 V. X-ray diffraction studies confirm that the main discharge product is Li₂O₂, and the results of scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy of the discharged electrodes show lithium peroxides at different positions due to the limitation of active sites on silver particles