LAUSR

The development of vanadium redox flow battery is limited by the sluggish kinetics of the reaction, especially the cathodic VO2+/VO2+ redox couples. Therefore, it is vital to develop new electrocatalysts with enhanced activity to improve the battery performance. Herein, we synthesized the hydrogel precursor by a facile hydrothermal method. After the following carbonization, nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide/carbon nanotube composite was obtained. By virtue of the large surface area and good conductivity, which are ensured by the unique hybrid structure, as well as the proper nitrogen doping, the as-prepared composite presents enhanced catalytic performance toward the VO2+/VO2+ redox reaction. We also demonstrated the composite with carbon nanotube loading of 2 mg/mL exhibits the highest activity and remarkable stability in aqueous solution due to the strong synergy between reduced graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes, indicating that this composite might show promising applications in vanadium redox flow battery.