Silver decorated alpha-manganese oxide nanostructured electrocatalyst for rechargeable lithium-oxygen battery

Ag decorated α-MnO₂ nanorods are studied as a cathode catalyst for rechargeable lithium-oxygen battery (LOB). The composites are synthesized by in-situ composite technique in the presence of polymeric additives and characterized by SEM, XPS, and FT-IR. The battery with Ag decorated α-MnO₂ nanorod composite electrode shows an initial discharge capacity of 793 mA hg^-1_(electrode), with reversible charge capacity of 778 mA hg^-1_(electrode), while battery with only α-MnO₂ has discharge capacity of 510 mA hg^-1_(electrode) and charge capacity of 504 mA hg^-1_(electrode). No Li₂O or Li₂O₂ can be detected after discharge and Li₂CO₃ is the main discharge product, which suggests that the decomposition of organic carbonate electrolyte occurs during discharge.