ZnO electrocatalyst integrated onto carbon paper for efficient non-aqueous Li-O batteries.

The development of high-performance lithium-oxygen (Li-O) batteries is hindered by challenges including high overpotential and limited cycle life. In this paper, we report the cost-effective and scalable synthesis of a ZnO electrocatalyst directly integrated onto carbon paper a simple dipping and thermal treatment method. The resulting ZnO-on-carbon composite (ZnO on P50) was employed as the cathode in a non-aqueous Li-O battery. Comprehensive physicochemical characterizations, including XPS, FE-SEM, and TEM, confirmed the successful incorporation and uniform dispersion of ZnO nanoparticles within the carbon matrix. Electrochemical evaluations revealed that the ZnO-based cathode reduced overpotential during charge-discharge cycles and improved energy efficiency by approximately 6.3% over 40 cycles compared to pristine carbon paper (P50). XRD and SEM analyses further validated the formation and decomposition of LiO during cycling and suggested enhanced reaction uniformity owing to the catalytic role of ZnO. These findings demonstrate that -grown ZnO offers a promising, low-cost strategy for improving the energy efficiency of Li-O batteries.