Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Vol.832, 165-173, 2019
Application of RGO/CNT nanocomposite as cathode material in lithium-air battery
In this work, graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized through Hummer's method and reduced to graphene (RGO) through thermal reduction. Then, a composite was prepared from GO and functionalized carbon nanotube namely GO/CNT under ultrasonic irradiation and finally was converted to RGO/CNT by heating to be used as the cathode material in the lithium-air battery. The physical characterization of synthesized composite was accomplished using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N-2-adsorption-desorption techniques. The specific surface area of the composite was 564.48 m(2)/g. The electrochemical efficiency of composite was evaluated through charge-discharge cycleability and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis. The electrochemical tests showed that the storage capacity was about 9000 mA.h/g at 100 mA/g current density. The cyclic performances of prepared electrodes were examined during 50 cycles. Results exhibited an appropriate electrochemical performance for this composite to reduce and generate oxygen in aprotic medium.
Keywords:Lithium-air battery;Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS);Nanocomposite;Cycleability;XPS