Room-temperature reduction of NO2 in a Li-NO2 battery: a proof of concept

Jiachen Liang; Chen Zhang; Donghai Liu; Tianhao Wu; Ying Tao; Guo-Wei Ling; Hai-Jun Yu; Jun Lu; Quan-Hong Yang

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2019.10.017

Room-temperature reduction of NO₂ in a Li-NO₂ battery: a proof of concept

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2020 Jan 15;65(1):55-61. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2019.10.017. Epub 2019 Oct 17.

Authors

Jiachen Liang¹, Chen Zhang², Donghai Liu¹, Tianhao Wu³, Ying Tao¹, Guo-Wei Ling², Hai-Jun Yu³, Jun Lu⁴, Quan-Hong Yang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Nanoyang Group, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China.
² School of Marine Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China.
³ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
⁴ Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.
⁵ Nanoyang Group, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Fuzhou 350207, China. Electronic address: qhyangcn@tju.edu.cn.

PMID: 36659069
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2019.10.017

Abstract

Although considerable effort has been devoted to purifying nitrogen oxides (NO_x), it is still challenging to effectively reduce NO_x at room temperature and ambient pressure without catalysts. In this study, as a proof-of-concept, we have for the first time demonstrated the room-temperature reduction of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) using a rechargeable lithium-nitrogen dioxide (Li-NO₂) battery. The battery shows a capacity of 884 mAh g^-1 at 50 mA g^-1 (an actual energy density of 666 Wh kg^-1) and a promising electrochemical Faraday efficiency (FE) of 67%. The unique properties of Li-NO₂ rechargeable batteries not only provide a way to reduce and recycle NO₂ but also highlight the potential of oxidative air pollutants as energy sources for next-generation electrochemical energy storage (EES) systems.

Keywords: Air pollutants; Carbon; Energy-storage devices; Li-NO(2) battery; Nitrogen dioxide.