Nitrogen-doped graphene derived from polyaniline/graphene oxide composites with improved capacity and cyclic performance of Li-O2 battery

Nitrogen-doped graphene (NGO) was synthesized by the pyrolysis of precursor polyaniline/graphene oxide composites, where the nitrogen content of the NGO was dependent on the loading amount of polyaniline. The Li-O 2 cell with the NGO cathode exhibits a higher full-discharge capacity and longer cycle life than the one with the graphene oxide cathode. SEM and Raman analyses indicate that film-like Li 2 O 2 product is formed on the NGO cathode in battery discharging following a surface-pathway mode, due to the adsorption of soluble intermediates by the nitrogen-containing species of the NGO cathode according to rotating ring disk electrode analysis, which effectively lowers the charge potential of Li-O 2 cells and alleviates the corrosion of Li anode. The simple synthesis of NGO with good catalytic performance and electric conductance is prospective to be applied on Li-O 2 batteries at low cost.