Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) uses as cathode materials for lithium-air batteries show a specific discharge capacity of 66 mAh g-1, which is about 1.5 times as that of CNTs, according to a new study by a team from the University of Western Ontario (Canada).
Their paper appears in the journal Electrochemistry Communications.
Li et al. synthesized the N-CNTs—which testing confirmed to incorporate 10.2 at.% nitrogen—by a floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FCCVD) method.
The team concluded that their results indicated that the N-CNTs electrode shows high electrocatalytic activities for the cathode reaction, thus improving lithium-air battery performance. The performance improvement of N-CNTs, they suggested, results from heteroatom nitrogen doping.
Resources
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Yongliang Li, Jiajun Wang, Xifei Li, Jian Liu, Dongsheng Geng, Jinli Yang, Ruying Li and Xueliang Sun (2011) Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes as novel cathode for lithium-air batteries. Electrochemistry Communications doi: 10.1016/j.elecom.2011.04.004