Pd cluster decorated free standing flexible cathode for high performance Li-oxygen batteries

As a promising candidate for the next generation energy storage system, rechargeable lithium-oxygen batteries (LOBs) still face substantial challenges caused by insulating discharge products that preclude their practical application. Exploring highly efficient cathode catalysts capable of facilitating formation/decomposition of discharge products is considered as an essential approach towards high performance LOBs. Herein, Pd decorated Te nanowires (Pd@Te NWs) were synthesized as advanced catalyst in LOBs to maximize Pd utilization and achieve synergistic effect, in which Pd clusters were uniformly grown on Te substrate though regulating the Pd:Te ratio. Meanwhile, Pd@Te nanowires assembled into an interpenetrating network-like structure by vacuum filtration and employed as flexible cathode, enabling LOBs achieved an ultralong 190 cycles stability and a superior specific capacity of 3.35 mAh·cm⁻². Experimental studies and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal the excellent catalytic ability of Pd@Te and synergistic catalytic mechanism of Pd and Te, in which uniform electron distribution, extensive electron exchange, and large adsorption distance between Pd cluster and discharge products promote homogeneous adsorption/desorption of discharge products, while the high adsorption energy of Te substrate for Li species reduces the initial dynamical energy barrier during discharging process. The current work provides viable strategy to design composite catalysts for flexible cathode of LOBs with synergistic catalytic effects.