Electrochemically synthesized nanoporous gold as a cathode material for Li-O2 batteries

Nanoporous gold (NPG) prepared via chemical de-alloying has been recently shown to dramatically improve the reversibility and kinetics of Li-O-2 batteries, but high cost makes its use as practical electrode material difficult. Recently developed electrochemical routines for synthesis of very thin NPG layers (< 100 nm) on various low-cost substrates could potentially provide a feasible economic alternative. In this work, NPG on both gold and glassy carbon (GC) substrates was successfully synthesized via electrochemical de-alloying method and tested as cathode material in Li-O-2 batteries. The results show that electrochemically synthesized NPG cathode cycles repeatedly with LiFePO4 anode. The voltage hysteresis is also significantly reduced when NPG is used in comparison with plain GC. Along with these results, challenges that need to be addressed for future implementation of NPG cathode in practical Li-O-2 batteries are also discussed.