Binuclear metal phthalocyanines bonding with carbon nanotubes as catalyst for the Li/SOCl^sub 2^ battery

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were chemically modified by a series of binuclear hexamino-metallo (M2Pc2) which were produced by reducing the corresponding binuclear hexanitro-metallophthalocyanines (M2HnPc2) (M = Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II)). The compounds were characterized with different techniques: IR, UV–vis, XRD, SEM, XPS. The electrocatalytic performances of the CNTs bonding with M2Pc2 (M2Pc2-CNTs) to Li/SOCl2 battery was tested by adding these compounds into the electrolyte. The capacities of the battery were improved, with increases by 59.1–128.5%. In addition, sequence of the electrochemical catalytic performance of M2Pc2-CNTs is as follow: Fe > Co > Cu > Zn > Ni > Mn. The CNTs bonding with M2Pc2 can greatly promote the electronic transmission, which significantly improve the performance and the initial voltage of Li/SOCl2 battery. Cyclic voltammetry measurements are applied to verify the M2Pc2-CNTs possessing catalytic performances and a reasonable mechanism is proposed.