title: Reactivity of carbon in lithium-oxygen battery positive electrodes.
abstract: Unfortunately, the practical applications of Li-O2 batteries are impeded by poor rechargeability. Here, for the first time we show that superoxide radicals generated at the cathode during discharge react with carbon that contains activated double bonds or aromatics to form epoxy groups and carbonates, which limits the rechargeability of Li-O2 cells. Carbon materials with a low amount of functional groups and defects demonstrate better stability thus keeping the carbon will-o'-the-wisp lit for lithium-air batteries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and ‡Department of Materials Science, Moscow State University , Moscow, 119992, Russia.
authors.forename: Daniil M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Itkis
authors.forename: Dmitry A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Semenenko
authors.forename: Elmar Yu
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Kataev
authors.forename: Alina I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Belova
authors.forename: Vera S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Neudachina
authors.forename: Anna P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Sirotina
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hävecker
authors.forename: Detre
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Teschner
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knop-Gericke
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dudin
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barinov
authors.forename: Eugene A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Goodilin
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao-Horn
authors.forename: Lada V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Yashina