Polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide foams as metal-free cathodes for stable lithium–oxygen batteries

Abstract

Abstract Lithium–oxygen batteries (LOBs) are considered as next-generation energy storage devices owing to their high-energy densities, yet they generally suffer from low actual specific capacity and poor cycle performance. To solve these issues, a range of electrocatalysts have been introduced in the cathode to reduce the overpotential during charge/discharge cycles and minimize unwanted side reactions. Due to relative high costs and limited reserves of noble metals and their compounds, it is important to develop low-cost and efficient metal-free electrocatalysts. Here, we report a simple method to prepare three-dimensional porous polyaniline (PANI)/reduced graphene oxide foams (PPGFs) with different PANI contents via a two-step self-assembly process. When these foams are tested as the cathode in LOBs, the device using the PPGF with 50% PANI content exhibits a discharge capacity up to 36 010 mAh g −1 and an excellent cycling stability (260 cycles at 1000 mAh g −1 and 500 cycles at 500 mAh g −1 ), provid ing new insights into the design of next-generation metal-free cathodes for LOBs.