Balancing the specific surface area and mass diffusion property of electrospun carbon fibers to enhance the cell performance of vanadium redox flow battery

Zeng，L.1,2; Sun，J.1; Zhao，T. S.1; Ren，Y. X.1; Wei，L.1

2020

10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.02.177

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY   影响因子和分区

0360-3199

1879-3487

Electrospun carbon fibers are featured with abundant electroactive sites but large mass transport resistances as the electrodes for vanadium redox flow battery. To lower mass transport resistances while maintaining large specific areas, electrospun carbon fibers with different structural properties, including pore size and pore distribution, are prepared by varying precursor concentrations. Increasing the polyacrylonitrile concentration from 9 wt% to 18 wt% results in carbonized fibers with an average fiber diameter ranging from 0.28 μm to 1.82 μm. The median pore diameter, in the meantime, almost linearly increases from 1.32 μm to 9.05 μm while maintaining the porosity of higher than 82%. The subsequent electroactivity evaluation and full battery testing demonstrate that the mass transport of vanadium ions through the electrode with larger fiber diameters are significantly improved but not scarifying the electrochemical activity. It is shown that the flow battery with these electrodes obtains an energy efficiency of 79% and electrolyte utilization of 74% at 300 mA cm. Hence, all these results eliminate the concern of mass transport when applying electrospun carbon fibers as the electrodes for redox flow batteries and guide the future development of electrospun carbon fibers.

Carbon fiber Electrospinning Mass transport Specific surface area Vanadium redox flow battery

SCI ; EI

英语

其他

Innovation and Technology Commission of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China[ITS/177/17FP]

Chemistry ; Electrochemistry ; Energy & Fuels

Chemistry, Physical ; Electrochemistry ; Energy & Fuels

WOS:000524179900027

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

20201308351625

Electrolytes ; Flow batteries ; Carbon fibers ; Electrochemical electrodes ; Energy efficiency ; Electrospinning ; Pore size ; Vanadium

Energy Conservation:525.2 ; Vanadium and Alloys:543.6 ; Electric Batteries and Fuel Cells:702 ; Secondary Batteries:702.1.2 ; Chemical Agents and Basic Industrial Chemicals:803 ; Chemical Products Generally:804 ; Fiber Chemistry and Processing:819.3 ; Physical Properties of Gases, Liquids and Solids:931.2 ; Materials Science:951

ENGINEERING

2-s2.0-85082186370

Scopus

1.Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,Hong Kong SAR,Clear Water Bay, Kowloon,Hong Kong
2.Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,No 1088 Xueyuan Rd, Nanshan District,China

Zeng，L.,Sun，J.,Zhao，T. S.,et al. Balancing the specific surface area and mass diffusion property of electrospun carbon fibers to enhance the cell performance of vanadium redox flow battery[J]. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY,2020,45(22):12565-12576.

Zeng，L.,Sun，J.,Zhao，T. S.,Ren，Y. X.,&Wei，L..(2020).Balancing the specific surface area and mass diffusion property of electrospun carbon fibers to enhance the cell performance of vanadium redox flow battery.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY,45(22),12565-12576.

Zeng，L.,et al."Balancing the specific surface area and mass diffusion property of electrospun carbon fibers to enhance the cell performance of vanadium redox flow battery".INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY 45.22(2020):12565-12576.