Compressing porous carbon electrodes is a common approach to improve flow battery performance, but the resulting impact on electrode structure, fluid dynamics, and cell performance is not well understood. Herein, microtomographic imaging, load cell testing, and flow cell diagnostics are employed to characterize how compression‐induced changes impact pressure drop, polarization, and mass‐transfer scaling. Five different compressions are tested, spanning ranges typically used in literature, for AvCarb 1071 cloth (0%, 9%, 20%, 25%, 32%) and Freudenberg H23 paper (0%, 8%, 12%, 17%, 22%). It is found that the two electrode structures have distinct responses to compression, resulting in differing optimal conditions identified for each material; specifically, the Freudenberg H23 exhibits lower combined ohmic, charge‐transfer, and mass‐transport values at 8% compression, resulting in improved electrochemical performance across all compressive values, as compared to the optimal AvCarb 1071 compression (20%). Overall, Freudenberg H23 exhibits a greater sensitivity to compression with peak electrochemical activity correlating with increased permeability, whereas AvCarb 1071 is insensitive to compressive loads but produces lower electrochemical performance. Herein, the trade‐offs of mechanical robustness on fluid‐dynamic and electrochemical performance between the two electrodes are demonstrated by the aforementioned findings, suggesting each could be used for specific operating environments.
Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) have shown to be a promising technology for integrating intermittent renewable energy sources into the existing electrical grid. Incorporation of carbon cloth electrodes into VRFB is an area of interest for their enhanced electrochemical performance, however, issues with performance degradation throughout the duration of the experiment persist. This study investigates the performance evolution of carbon cloth electrodes during VRFB cycling to build a hypothesis on possible reasons for the declining performance. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and polarization curve measurements are used in conjunction to monitor the electrode degradation and shed light on the effectiveness of carbon cloth electrodes during extended cycling experiments. A detailed investigation into the structure of the carbon cloth electrodes before and after cycling, via several material characterization tests, provides insight needed to determine an explanation for the increasing resistance. The structural integrity and surface morphology of the carbon cloth electrodes are evaluated to compare the electrode before and after cycling, displaying any changes to the electrode due to cycling. Durability of hydrophilicity during RFB cycling is found to be a key feature for future carbon cloth electrode design efforts.
more » « less- PAR ID:
- 10475140
- Publisher / Repository:
- The Electrochemical Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society
- Volume:
- 170
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 0013-4651
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 110525
- Size(s):
- Article No. 110525
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
more » « less
-
more » « less
Abstract Nonaqueous sodium- and lithium-oxygen batteries are of interest because of their high theoretical specific energies relative to state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries. However, several challenges limit rechargeability, including instability of the carbon electrode and electrolyte with reactive oxygen species formed during cycling. This work investigates strategies to improve the cycling efficiency of the Na–O2system and minimize irreversible degradation of electrolyte and electrode materials. We show that charging cells with a constant current/constant voltage (CCCV) protocol is a promising technique made possible by the slight solubility of sodium superoxide in nonaqueous electrolytes. In addition, the type of carbon electrode has a significant impact on cell performance and efficacy of the cycling protocol. Graphitic carbon electrodes coupled with CCCV charging demonstrate higher reversibility, more efficient oxygen evolution, and less outgassing than conventional cells using a porous carbon paper electrode and only a constant current charge.
Graphical abstract -
more » « less
Abstract Supercapacitors have attracted enormous attention for energy storage in both academic and industrial sectors in the past years. In this study, all‐solid‐state flexible asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) without any binder, incorporated with the hydrophilic carbon cloth (HCC) with MnO2nanocomposite (HCC@MnO2) as the positive electrode, the HCC with polypyrrole (PPy) (HCC@PPy) as the negative electrode, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)–LiCl gel as both gel electrolyte and separator, are reported. The HCC@MnO2and HCC@PPy electrodes are prepared by direct deposition of either MnO2nanoparticles or PPy nanofilms on the HCC through a simple, facile, and controllable electrochemical deposition method, respectively. The HCC@MnO2and HCC@PPy electrodes provide rich contact area for gel electrolyte, facilitating the rapid delivery of electrolyte ions, and also minimize the resistance of ASCs. As a result, all‐solid‐state flexible binder‐free HCC@MnO2//HCC@PPy ASCs exhibit a large operating voltage of 1.8 V, high energy density of 28.2 Wh kg−1at the power density of 420.5 W kg−1, and excellent cycling stability (91.2% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles). The present study provides a facile, scalable, and efficient approach to fabricate all‐solid‐state ASCs with high electrochemical storage performance for flexible electronics.
-
more » « less
Abstract Organic compounds are desirable alternatives for sustainable lithium‐ion battery electrodes. However, the electrochemical properties of state‐of‐the‐art organic electrodes are still worse than commercial inorganic counterparts. Here, a new chemistry is reported based on the electrochemical conversion of nitro compounds to azo compounds for high performance lithium‐ion batteries. 4‐Nitrobenzoic acid lithium salt (NBALS) is selected as a model nitro compound to systemically investigate the structure, lithiation/delithiation mechanism, and electrochemical performance of nitro compounds. NBALS delivers an initial capacity of 153 mAh g−1at 0.5 C and retains a capacity of 131 mAh g−1after 100 cycles. Detailed characterizations demonstrate that during initial electrochemical lithiation, the nitro group in crystalline NBALS is irreversibly reduced into an amorphous azo compound. Subsequently, the azo compound is reversibly lithiated/delithiated in the following charge/discharge cycles with high electrochemical performance. The lithiation/delithiation mechanism of azo compounds is also validated by directly using azo compounds as electrode materials, which exhibit similar electrochemical performance to nitro compounds, while having a much higher initial Coulombic efficiency. Therefore, this work proves that nitro compounds can be electrochemically converted to azo compounds for high performance lithium‐ion batteries.
-
A concentration-gradient composition is proposed as an effective approach to solve the mechanical degradation and improve the electrochemical cyclability for cathodes of sodium-ion batteries. Concentration-gradient shell NaxNiyMn1-yFe(CN)6·nH2O, in which the Ni content gradually increases from the interior to the particle surface, is synthesized by a facile co-precipitation process. The as-obtained cathode exhibits an improved electrochemical performance compared to homogeneous NaxMnFe(CN)6·nH2O, delivering a high reversible specific capacity of 110 mA h g-1 at 0.2 C and outstanding cycling stability (93% retention after 1000 cycles at 5 C). The improvement of electrochemical performance can be attributed to its robust microstructure that effectively alleviates the electrochemically induced stresses and accumulated damage during sodiation/desodiation and thus prevents the initiation of fracture in the particles upon long term cycling. These findings render a prospective strategy to develop high-performance electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries.more » « less
