Carbon-Based Electrodes for Lithium Air Batteries: Scientific and Technological Challenges from a Modeling Perspective

The carbon-based positive electrode of Lithium Air Batteries (LABs) is the component where the major competitive mechanisms occur, such as the electrochemical reactions leading to the formation and decomposition of multiple types of lithium oxides, lithium ion and electronic transport as well as oxygen transport. Through a multiscale viewpoint, this review discusses available models describing LAB carbon-based electrodes from the atomistic to continuum approaches. Relevance of those approaches versus experimental data as well as the remaining scientific and technological challenges of these technologies are analyzed. Finally, this review briefly introduces a new theory aiming at studying the impact of the positive electrode carbon structure onto the cyclability of LABs. (C) 2013 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.