Amorphous MnO 2 Coated 3D Ni Nanomesh as a Thin-film Hybrid Cathode Material under O 2 Atmosphere

Abstract

In this study, we apply the economically feasible liquid ALD process to deposit a 2 nm amorphous MnO 2 thin-film on our high surface-area 3D Ni nanomesh substrate, which shows a high surface to footprint area ratio (30 cm 2 :1 cm 2 for 1  μ m thick Ni nanomesh), and demonstrate its preliminary electrochemical activity as a cathode under N 2 and O 2 . The excellent footprint charge density and faradaic efficiency can be attributed to the catalytic oxygen reduction reaction, followed by Li-intercalation thus forming a hybrid combination of Li-ion and Li-O 2 activity, alleviating the detrimental deactivation process of pristine MnO 2 .