Synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes directly on metallic foams as cathode material with high mass load for lithium-air batteries

• Published in: Thin solid films 2020-09, Vol.709, p.138211, Article 138211
• Main Authors: Ionescu, Mihnea Ioan, Laforgue, Alexis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon nanotubes; Lithium-air battery; Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes; Spray pyrolysis
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2020.138211

•Spray pyrolysis chemical vapor deposition used for carbon nanotubes synthesis.•Pristine and nitrogen-doped nanotubes deposited with high loads on metallic foam.•Li-air battery cathodes fabricated using nanotubes without binders or additives.•Doped nanotubes show better electrochemical properties than pristine nanotubes.•The coulombic efficiency of electrodes decreases after 10 cycles. Spray pyrolysis chemical vapor deposition was used to synthetize carbon nanotubes and nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes directly on metallic foam substrates. Cathodes containing pristine and nitrogen-doped nanotubes with mass loads of 4.2 mg cm−2 were investigated for lithium-air batteries. Pristine nanotubes presented a maximum specific discharge capacity of 3320 mAh g − 1 in air, while nitrogen-doped nanotubes exhibited a maximum specific discharge capacity of 3934 mAh g − 1. These results demonstrate that is possible to deposit high amounts of carbon nanomaterials on metallic substrates and use them directly as electrode materials with high electrocatalytic activity for the cathode reaction for developing advanced energy storage devices.