Battery Performance Amelioration by Introducing a Conducive Mixed Electrolyte in Rechargeable Mg-O₂ Batteries

With magnesium being a cost-effective anode metal compared to the other conventional Li-based anodes in the energy market, it could be a capable source of energy storage. However, Mg-O₂ batteries have struggled its way to overcome the poor cycling stability and sluggish reaction kinetics. Therefore, Ru metallic nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were introduced as a cathode for Mg-O₂ batteries, which are known for their inherent electronic properties, large surface area, and increased crystallinity to favor remarkable oxygen reduction reactions and oxygen evolution reactions (ORR and OER). Also, we deployed a first-of-its-kind, conducive mixed electrolyte (CME) (2 M Mg(NO₃)₂:1 M Mg(TFSI)₂/diglyme). Hence, this synergistic incorporation of CME-based Ru/CNT Mg-O₂ batteries could unleash long cycle life with low overpotential, excellent reversibility, and high ionic conductivity and also reduces the intrinsic corrosion behavior of Mg anodes. Correspondingly, this novel amalgamation of CME with Ru/CNT cathode has displayed superior cyclic stability of 65 cycles and a maximum discharge potential of 25 793 mAh g^-1 with a small overvoltage plateau of 1.4 V, noticeably subjugating the findings of conventional single electrolyte (CSE) (1 M Mg(TFSI)₂/diglyme). This CME-based Ru/CNT Mg-O₂ battery design could have a significant outcome as a future battery technology.