Preparation, characterization and electrochemical catalytic properties of hollandite Ag ₂Mn ₈O ₁₆ for li-air batteries

Hollandite Ag ₂Mn ₈O ₁₆ was prepared by solid-state chemical method, and was used as an electrochemical catalyst for oxygen reduction in lithium-air batteries. Several techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to evaluate the characteristics of Ag ₂Mn ₈O ₁₆ catalyst and composite air electrodes made with Ag ₂Mn ₈O ₁₆single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT)carbon nanofiber (CNF). The catalytic effect of Ag ₂Mn ₈O ₁₆ catalyst was studied using galvanostatic discharge method. Li-air cell with Ag ₂Mn ₈O ₁₆ catalyst exhibits a reduced discharge overvoltage and a large discharge capacity. This work shows that the hollandite Ag ₂Mn ₈O ₁₆ material is an effective electrochemical catalyst to enhance the electrochemical performance of lithium-air batteries.