Nitrogen-doped redox graphene as a negative electrode additive for lead-acid batteries

•GO-EDA with a large specific surface area and three-dimensional pore structure is used as a negative electrode additive for lead-acid cells.•Nitrogen-doped GO-EDA can effectively inhibit the hydrogen evolution process as a negative electrode additive for lead-acid cells.•The lead-acid cell containing 0.5 wt.% GO-EDA has the highest initial discharge capacity (171.47 mAh g−1) and the longest HRPSoC cycle life (17,970 cycles).