Li–air batteries are considered to be one of the most promising energy storage devices due to their high energy density and large specific capacity. But the high overpotential, the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics, and the poor cycling stability critically restrict their practical applications. To overcome these problems, various catalysts and electrolyte mediators have been used and studied. However, for practical application, these catalysts still have some challenges and scientific problems that need to be solved. Specifically, the performance of lithium–air batteries faces three major problems of capacity, overpotential, and cycle life that need to be solved. Solid-phase catalysts and liquid-phase redox mediators have their own advantages and disadvantages in the performance and reaction mechanism of lithium–air batteries. This review comprehensively analyzes and summarizes the catalytic materials and electrolyte additives of different systems and discusses in depth the corresponding reaction mechanism and performance (including technical characteristics and application difficulty). Finally, according to the characteristics of catalysts and practical application difficulties, the development direction of lithium–air batteries is proposed. Li–air batteries need to exploit the advantages of catalysts and redox mediators in terms of stability and overpotential to improve the electrochemical performance of the battery. In the future, anode protection and air purification systems will be combined to achieve large-scale, long-cycle applications of lithium–air batteries.

中文翻译：

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提高锂空气电池性能的关键：催化剂的最新进展与挑战

锂空气电池因其高能量密度和大比容量被认为是最有前途的储能装置之一。但高过电位、缓慢的氧还原反应（ORR）和析氧反应（OER）动力学以及较差的循环稳定性严重限制了它们的实际应用。为了克服这些问题，已经使用和研究了各种催化剂和电解质介体。然而，对于实际应用，这些催化剂仍然存在一些挑战和需要解决的科学问题。具体来说，锂空气电池的性能面临容量、过电位和循环寿命三大问题亟待解决。固相催化剂和液相氧化还原介体在锂空气电池的性能和反应机理上各有优缺点。本综述对不同体系的催化材料和电解质添加剂进行了综合分析和总结，并深入探讨了相应的反应机理和性能（包括技术特点和应用难点）。最后，根据催化剂的特点和实际应用难点，提出了锂空气电池的发展方向。锂空气电池需要利用催化剂和氧化还原介质在稳定性和过电位方面的优势来提高电池的电化学性能。在将来，