Nitrogen-doped redox graphene as a negative electrode additive for lead-acid batteries

Abstract

To suppress the sulfation of the negative electrode of lead-acid batteries, a graphene derivative (GO-EDA) was prepared by ethylenediamine (EDA) functionalized graphene oxide (GO), which was used as an effective additive for the negative electrode of lead-acid batteries. The effect of GO-EDA on the performance of lead-acid batteries was studied by electrochemical methods, simulated cell performance test, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that when the negative active material (NAM) contains 0.5 wt.% GO-EDA additive (the N-0.5 cell), the initial discharge capacity of the cell at a rate of 0.05 C is 171.47 mAh g−1. Meanwhile, the high-rate partial state of charge (HRPSoC) cycle life of the N-0.5 cell under 1 C rate is 17,970 cycles, which is 280% higher than that of the blank control cell. In a word, GO-EDA has the potential to be applied to enhance the specific capacity and HRPSoC cycle-life of lead-acid batteries.