ABSTRACT
Metal-air batteries, particularly rechargeable metal-air batteries (RMABs), have renewed research interests as a type of potential energy storage/conversion solutions due to their high specific energy, low cost, and safety. This chapter introduces various kinds of RMABs, as well as their systems, and shows the current state of bifunctional catalysts as key materials in RMABs. However, the development of RMABs are challenged considerably by the lack of efficient and robust air-electrode bifunctional catalysts, leading to relatively low rate capability and poor long-term stability.To improve performance of RMABs, the air-electrode catalysts have to be active for both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) during battery discharge and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during battery recharge. Thus, this chapter summarizes the progresses in development and exploration of various effective bifunctional catalysts for RMABs.
