A novel aqueous lithium-oxygen cell based on the oxygen-peroxide redox couple.

The electrochemical process of an aqueous Li-O2 cell is investigated. Li2O2 is detected as a discharge product of an aqueous Li-O2 cell using a catalyst-free carbon-based electrode. The electrolyte solution saturated with lithium hydroxide prevents hydrolysis of the Li2O2. Since the electron transfer process is based on the oxygen-peroxide redox couple, the galvanostatic charging-discharging profile shows stable cycling with an extremely low charging overpotential of <0.1 V at 1.0 mA cm(-2).