Researchers design high-performance catalyst for seawater batteries

BEIJING - Chinese researchers from Tianjin University have designed a high-performance catalyst for seawater batteries operating in deep-sea and lean-oxygen environments.

A constant energy supply with a self-powered energy conversion device is crucial for the exploration of extreme deep-sea environments.

The use of dissolved-oxygen seawater batteries, which generate electricity by reducing dissolved oxygen, is promising, though their performance is limited by the ultralow oxygen concentration in deep-sea environments.

The researchers reported a microwave-assisted heating method and achieved the ultrafast synthesis of a high-activity catalyst with a strong oxygenophilic interface.

They tested the high-efficiency oxygen reduction and catalysis mechanism in a lean-oxygen environment, and established that the catalyst can work stably with the seawater batteries in ultralow oxygen conditions.

The research was published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials. The results suggested oxygenophilic catalysts have a critical role in the operation of seawater batteries in lean-oxygen conditions.