Graphene sheets decorated with silver nanoparticles as an oxygen reduction reaction catalyst for zinc-air battery

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to develop a catalyst for the cathode of a zinc-air battery and to investigate the effects of reduced graphene oxide decorated with silver nanoparticles on the cathode in the zinc-air battery. First, reduced graphene oxide (AgNPs/rGO) was synthesized using glucose reduction at 60 degrees Celsius. Next, the structure and morphology of AgNPs/rGO were checked using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Then, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyzes were carried out. The amount of silver (Ag) decorate in graphene oxide was confirmed by EDX. Next, the synthesized catalysts at 3 concentration, using a rotating disk electrode (RDE), led to the finding of the number of electron transfer in the battery main reaction. It was noted that by increasing the concentration of Ag, the electron transfer rate increased closer to 4. Thus, the results showed that the concentration of 0.3 M gave the highest value of 4 electron pathways and the highest catalyst performance. Thereby, the concentration of 0.3 M (AgNPs/rGO) was used as the catalyst in the battery which had a current density of 150 mA / cm² at 0.435 v and a power density of 67.6 mW / cm² at 130 mA / cm².