Evolution of Vanadium Redox Flow Battery in Electrode

The vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) is a highly regarded technology for large-scale energy storage due to its outstanding features, such as scalability, efficiency, long lifespan, and site independence. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of its performance in carbon-based electrodes, along with a comprehensive review of the system‘s principles and mechanisms. It discusses potential applications, recent industrial involvement, and economic factors associated with VRFB technology. The study also covers the latest advancements in VRFB electrodes, including electrode surface modification and electrocatalyst materials, and highlights their effects on the VRFB system‘s performance. Additionally, the potential of two-dimensional material MXene to enhance electrode performance is evaluated, and the author concludes that MXenes offer significant advantages for use in high-power VRFB at a low cost. Finally, the paper reviews the challenges and future development of VRFB technology.     

A review of electrolyte additives and impurities in vanadium redox flow batteries

As one of the most important components of the vanadium redox flow battery(VRFB), the electrolyte can impose a significant impact on cell properties, performance and capital cost. In particular, the electrolyte composition will influence energy density, operating temperature range and the practical applications of the VRFB. Various approaches to increase the energy density and operating temperature range have been proposed. The presence of electrolyte impurities, or the addition of a small amount of other chemical species into the vanadium solution can alter the stability of the electrolyte and influence cell performance, operating temperature range, energy density, electrochemical kinetics and cost effectiveness. This review provides a detailed overview of research on electrolyte additives including stabilizing agents, immobilizing agents, kinetic enhancers, as well as electrolyte impurities and chemical reductants that can be used for different purposes in the VRFBs.     

表面修饰模式对Nafion离子选择性影响及在VRFB中的应用

本文采用壳聚糖-磷钨酸层对Nafion膜表面分别进行单面和双面修饰改性,研究了修饰模式对Nafion膜钒离子渗透率、电导率及离子选择性的影响. 结果表明,单面、双面修饰改性均会使Nafion膜的钒离子渗透率显著降低,最高降幅分别达到89.9% (单面修饰) 和92.7% (双面修饰);单面、双面修饰改性均会使Nafion膜的电导率下降,但存在明显差异,在相同修饰厚度条件下,双面修饰改性对Nafion膜电导率的影响比单面修饰改性更小。因此,双面修饰复合膜展示出了比单面修饰复合膜更高的离子选择性,并且在修饰层厚度为17 μm时达到最大值（1.12×10⁵ S•min•cm^-3）. 基于优化的双面修饰Nafion膜的全钒液流电池,在充放电流密度30 mA•cm^-2 时,库伦效率和能量效率分别达到93.5%和 80.7%, 并且在测试时间内展示出良好的循环稳定性.     

Treated carbon felt as electrode material in vanadium redox flow batteries: a study of the use of carbon nanotubes as electrocatalyst

Electrodes for large-scale usage in vanadium redox flow battery are usually fabricated without any electrocatalyst due to the lack of good, viable options. The best performance is achieved of carbon-based materials. Recently, some researchers have been reported regarding the use of carbon nanotube as the electrocatalyst in the vanadium redox flow batteries. However, these researches have been carried out without making any comparison between the performance of the traditional method and the carbon nanotube electrocatalyst. In the present study, the loading of multi-walled carbon nanotube, the acid–heat treatment, and their combination were used to modify the carbon felt electrode to be applied in the vanadium redox flow battery. The obtained results showed better electrochemical properties for acid–heat-treated carbon felt electrode compared to the carbon nanotube-loaded one. The best electrode was obtained for using in a vanadium redox flow battery in terms of electrochemical and surface properties after applying a combination of two modification strategies. Applying this proposed method in modification of the carbon felt electrode increased its hydrophilicity more than 17 times and its capability to absorb VOSO₄ solution more than eight times. Also, the charge transfer resistance of a modified electrode, by the combination of the carbon nanotube and the acid–heat treatment, significantly decreased in both positive and negative poles of vanadium redox flow battery. Consequently, the exchange current density enhanced more than 100- and 175-fold in positive and negative poles, respectively, in comparison with carbon felt electrode.     

全钒氧化还原液流电池用石墨毡电极的分步氧化活化

石墨毡电极是组成钒电池的关键材料,其较低的电化学活性是造成钒电池功率密度较低的关键因素之一. 本论文采用一种简便的石墨毡电极分步氧化活化法,先将石墨毡在高锰酸钾溶液中进行氧化,后置于活化溶液中激发其反应活性. 通过对处理后的石墨毡进行循环伏安、交流阻抗测试、XPS以及SEM表征,发现氧化时间和活化溶液组成是影响电极性能的因素,在本文中,先经过3天氧化时间,后在配比为3:1的活化溶液中处理的电极,较其他方法处理的电极,电荷传递电阻明显降低,其与溶液之间的接触电阻最低,为7.33 Ω·cm ²,氧化还原峰值比更接近于1,有效提高了反应的活性与可逆性,经X射线光电子能谱分析发现性能提高的原因与表面含氧官能团数目增加有关. 单电池性能测试结果进一步证实,利用该方法处理的石墨毡为电极的单电池,较未经处理的电池相比性能更优,有更高的放电容量和能量效率,在100 mA·cm ^-2电流密度下,能量效率较未处理电极高出7.47%. 与热处理法、酸处理法及电化学氧化法相比较,该方法不需要辅助设备,不消耗能源.     

Nano oxides incorporated sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membranes with improved selectivity and stability for vanadium redox flow battery

Three kinds of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK)/nano oxide (Al₂O₃, SiO₂, and TiO₂) composite membranes are fabricated for vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) application. The composite membranes with 5 wt% of Al₂O₃, SiO₂, and TiO₂ (S/A-5 %, S/S-5 %, and S/T-5 %) exhibit excellent cell performance in VRFB. Incorporation of nano oxides (Al₂O₃, SiO₂, and TiO₂) in SPEEK membrane improves in aspect of thermal, mechanical, and chemical stabilities due to the hydrogen bonds’ interaction between SPEEK matrix and nano oxides. The energy efficiencies (EEs) of composite membranes are higher than that of Nafion 117 membrane, owing to the good balance between proton conductivity and vanadium ion permeability. The discharge–capacity retentions of composite membranes also overwhelm that of Nafion 117 membrane after 200 cycles, indicating their good stability in VRFB system. These low-cost SPEEK/nano oxide composite membranes exhibit great potential for the application in VRFB.     

全钒液流电池铂氢微型参比电极体系的构筑与性能

铂丝电极表面上电沉积一层金属钯,用阴离子交换隔膜材料封装,制得铂氢微型参比电极,工艺简单、稳定性高. 将该微型参比电极应用于全钒储能电池性能研究,可内置于电池多孔电极内部,监测电池正负极充放电性能. 结果显示,电池容量衰减主要归因于电解液中的活性物质V(IV)的逐渐减少及V(V)的积累导致正负极活性物质不平衡.     

Cycling performance and efficiency of sulfonated poly(sulfone) membranes in vanadium redox flow batteries

As an alternative to Nafion® ion exchange membrane, an inexpensive commercially-available Radel® polymer was sulfonated, fabricated into a thin membrane, and evaluated for its performance in a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). The sulfonated Radel (S-Radel) membrane showed almost an order of magnitude lower permeability of VO²⁺ ions (2.07 × 10^?7 cm²/min), compared to Nafion 117 (1.29 × 10^?6 cm²/min), resulting in better coulombic efficiency (~ 98% vs. 95% at 50 mA/cm²) and lower capacity loss per cycle. Even though the S-Radel membrane had a slightly higher membrane resistance, the energy efficiency of the VRFB with the S-Radel membrane was comparable to that of Nafion because of its better coulombic efficiency resulting from the lower vanadium ion crossover. The S-Radel membrane exhibited good performance up to 40 cycles, but a decline in performance at later cycles was observed, likely as a result of membrane degradation.     

Chloride supporting electrolytes for all-vanadium redox flow batteries

This paper examines vanadium chloride solutions as electrolytes for an all-vanadium redox flow battery. The chloride solutions were capable of dissolving more than 2.3 M vanadium at varied valence states and remained stable at 0-50 °C. The improved stability appeared due to the formation of a vanadium dinuclear [V(2)O(3)·4H(2)O](4+) or a dinuclear-chloro complex [V(2)O(3)Cl·3H(2)O](3+) in the solutions over a wide temperature range. The all-vanadium redox flow batteries with the chloride electrolytes demonstrated excellent reversibility and fairly high efficiencies. Only negligible, if any, gas evolution was observed. The improved energy capacity and good performance, along with the ease in heat management, would lead to substantial reduction in capital cost and life-cycle cost, making the vanadium chloride redox flow battery a promising candidate for stationary applications.     

Novel catalytic effects of Mn3O4 for all vanadium redox flow batteries

A new approach for enhancing the electrochemical performance of carbon felt electrodes by employing non-precious metal oxides is designed. The outstanding electro-catalytic activity and mechanical stability of Mn(3)O(4) are advantageous in facilitating the redox reaction of vanadium ions, leading to efficient operation of a vanadium redox flow battery.     

High electro-catalytic graphite felt/Mn O2composite electrodes for vanadium redox flow batteries

A mild and simple synthesis process for large-scale vanadium redox flow batteries(VRFBs)energy storage systems is desirable.A graphite felt/Mn O_2(GF-MNO)composite electrode with excellent electrocatalytic activity towards VO~(2+)/VO_2~+redox couples in a VRFB was synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal process.The resulting GF-MNO electrodes possess improved electrochemical kinetic reversibility of the vanadium redox reactions compared to pristine GF electrodes,and the corresponding energy efficiency and discharge capacity at 150 m A cm~(-2)are increased by 12.5%and 40%,respectively.The discharge capacity is maintained at 4.8 A h L~(-1)at the ultrahigh current density of 250 m A cm~(-2).Above all,80%of the energy efficiency of the GF-MNO composite electrodes is retained after 120 charge-discharge cycles at 150 m A cm~(-2).Furthermore,these electrodes demonstrated that more evenly distributed catalytic active sites were obtained from the Mn O_2particles under acidic conditions.The proposed synthetic route is facile,and the raw materials are low cost and environmentally friendly.Therefore,these novel GF-MNO electrodes hold great promise in large-scale vanadium redox flow battery energy storage systems.     

Recent developments in sol-gel based polymer electrolyte membranes for vanadium redox flow batteries – A review

The current importance of energy production from renewable sources stimulated interest in energy storage systems. Recent research has focused on developing vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) for large scale energy storage owing to their cost-effectiveness, flexible design, energy efficiency and long cycle life. Nafion the preferred membrane in VRFB systems has an overall cost of more than 11% in these systems. However, due to its drawbacks of high permeability and high cost limit its suitability for commercial use. Many researchers are therefore keen to develop new chemical designs for synthetic membranes, such as perfluorinated, partially fluorinated, hydrocarbon based and organic-inorganic composite membrane. The sol-gel process, which is mainly based on hydrolysis and condensation reaction offers the possibility of homogeneous preparation of membranes, leading to high proton conductivity and reduced vanadium ion permeability, thereby greatly increasing the cell efficiency. This review summarizes recent development in the synthesis and applications of sol-gel based proton exchange membranes for VRFB system, on which many researchers have been working in recent years. We also discuss critical research areas and the future development of cost-effective sol-gel based membranes for attractive energy storage systems.     

磺化双酚芴型聚醚醚酮质子交换膜的制备及其在钒流电池中的应用

以双酚芴为结构单元合成双酚型聚醚醚酮聚合物,聚醚醚酮经浓硫酸磺化在双酚芴结构单元中引入磺化基团制备出聚醚醚酮质子交换膜(SF-PEEK)。 用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、核磁共振氢谱(¹H NMR)、热重分析(TG)、原子力显微镜(AFM)和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)等方法对聚醚醚酮质子交换膜的结构进行表征。 结果表明,磺酸基团被成功地在聚醚醚酮侧基上,SF-PEEK膜具有明显的亲水疏水微相分离形貌,磺酸基团相互聚集成形成离子通道。 SF-PEEK膜离子交换容量(IEC)达到1.97 mmol/g时,其电导率达到4.15×10^-2 S/cm,略低于Nafion117膜的5.67×10^-2 S/cm,但其钒离子渗透率仅为Nafion117膜的20.1%,表现出极好的离子选择性。 在钒流电池测试中,SF-PEEK膜在不同电流密度下库伦效率均高于Nafion117膜,其中IEC为1.97 mmol/g的SF80-PEEK608(80为SF的物质的量分数,608为60 ℃反应8 h)库伦效率在电流密度为40 mA/cm²时达到最大值80.9%,高于Nafion117膜的78.8%。 在自放电测试中,以SF80-PEEK608膜组装的电池的自放电时间为90 h,高于Nafion117膜的57 h。     

氧化镉改性石墨毡作为高性能的钒电池负极

为了提高原始石墨毡(GF)对V3+/V2+氧化还原反应的电催化活性和降低析氢反应对电池性能的影响,本文采用水热法将氧化镉(CdO)纳米颗粒负载于石墨毡表面,制备出改性石墨毡(CdO/GF)作为高性能的钒电池负极。通过扫描电镜(SEM)、X射线衍射分析(XRD)进行表面形貌和物相分析得出:CdO纳米颗粒均匀负载于石墨毡纤维表面;线性扫描伏安法(LSV)、循环伏安测试(CV)、交流阻抗谱测试(EIS)表明:相对于GF,CdO/GF有效抑制了析氢反应的活性,CdO/GF对于V3+/V2+氧化还原反应的电化学活性和可逆性有显著的提高,电荷转移阻抗也有明显的减小;单电池测试中,对比GF,CdO/GF的放电容量衰减速率有显著的下降,在90 mA·cm-2的电流密度下的电压效率和能量效率提高了约5%。在多次充放电循环过程中,CdO/GF的催化性能显示出良好的稳定性。     

Graphene/Nafion ink-impregnated graphite felt for both positive and negative sides of enhanced vanadium redox flow battery

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Electrocatalysts have a key role in the reactions of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB). A practical immersion-drying method is used to decorate graphene...     

聚苯并咪唑/聚乙烯吡咯烷酮复合质子交换膜的制备及钒液流电池性能

将聚苯并咪唑(PBI)与聚乙烯吡咯烷酮(PVP)共混, 制备了一系列PBI/PVP复合质子交换膜, 研究了不同PVP含量对PBI/PVP复合质子交换膜性能的影响. 研究结果表明, PVP的加入可有效提高PBI/PVP复合质子交换膜的吸水率及硫酸吸附量, 从而提高质子电导率, 与PBI原膜相比, PBI-PVP-5复合质子交换膜的结合酸含量可达2.47 mmol/g, 质子电导率达4.81 mS/cm, 选择性(3.12×10⁵ S·min/cm³)远高于原膜(1.12×10⁵ S·min/cm³). 电流密度为120 mA/cm²时, 电池的电压效率(VE)和能量效率(EE)均较PBI原膜提高了10%, 电池自放电时间长达307 h. PVP的加入为PBI系列钒液流电池隔膜提供了一个提高质子电导率的新思路.     

Three‐dimensional Nitrogen‐Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide/Carbon Nanotube Composite Catalysts for Vanadium Flow Batteries

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.     

The effect of phosphate additive on the positive electrolyte stability of vanadium redox flow battery

The electrolyte is one of the most important components of vanadium redox flow battery(VRFB),and its stability and solubility determines the energy density of a VRFB.The performance of current positive electrolyte is limited by the low stability of VO_2~+at a higher temperature.Phosphate is proved to be a very effective additive to improve the stability of VO_2~+.Even though,the stabilizing mechanism is still not clear,which hinders the further development of VRFBs.In this paper,to clarify the effect of phosphate additive on the positive electrolyte stability,the hydration structures of VO_2~+cations and the reaction mechanisms of precipitation with or without phosphate in the supporting electrolyte of H_2SO_4solutions were investigated in detail based on calculations of electronic structure.The stable configurations of complexes were optimized at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)level of theory.The zero-point energies and Gibbs free energies for these complexes were further evaluated at the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory.It shows that a structure of[VO_2(H_2O)_2]~+ surrounded by water molecules in H_2SO_4solution can be formed at the room temperature.With the temperature rises,[VO_2(H_2O)_2]~+ will lose a proton and form the intermediate of VO(OH)_3,and the further dehydration among VO(OH)_3molecules will create the precipitate of V_2O_5.When H_3PO_4was added into electrolytes,the V-O-P bond-containing neutral compound could be formed through interaction between VO(OH)_3and H_3PO_4,and the activation energy of forming the V-O-P bond-containing neutral compound is about 7 kcal mol~(-1) lower than that of the VO(OH)_3dehydration,which could avoid the precipitation of V_2O_5and improve the electrolyte stability.     

High electro-catalytic graphite felt/MnO<Subscript>2</Subscript> composite electrodes for vanadium redox flow batteries

A mild and simple synthesis process for large-scale vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) energy storage systems is desirable. A graphite felt/MnO₂ (GF-MNO) composite electrode with excellent electrocatalytic activity towards VO²⁺/VO₂⁺ redox couples in a VRFB was synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal process. The resulting GF-MNO electrodes possess improved electrochemical kinetic reversibility of the vanadium redox reactions compared to pristine GF electrodes, and the corresponding energy efficiency and discharge capacity at 150 mA cm^?2 are increased by 12.5% and 40%, respectively. The discharge capacity is maintained at 4.8 A h L^?1 at the ultrahigh current density of 250 mA cm^?2. Above all, 80% of the energy efficiency of the GFMNO composite electrodes is retained after 120 charge-discharge cycles at 150 mA cm^?2. Furthermore, these electrodes demonstrated that more evenly distributed catalytic active sites were obtained from the MnO₂ particles under acidic conditions. The proposed synthetic route is facile, and the raw materials are low cost and environmentally friendly. Therefore, these novel GFMNO electrodes hold great promise in large-scale vanadium redox flow battery energy storage systems.     

Radical Compatibility with Nonaqueous Electrolytes and Its Impact on an All‐Organic Redox Flow Battery

Nonaqueous redox flow batteries hold the promise of achieving higher energy density because of the broader voltage window than aqueous systems, but their current performance is limited by low redox material concentration, cell efficiency, cycling stability, and current density. We report a new nonaqueous all‐organic flow battery based on high concentrations of redox materials, which shows significant, comprehensive improvement in flow battery performance. A mechanistic electron spin resonance study reveals that the choice of supporting electrolytes greatly affects the chemical stability of the charged radical species especially the negative side radical anion, which dominates the cycling stability of these flow cells. This finding not only increases our fundamental understanding of performance degradation in flow batteries using radical‐based redox species, but also offers insights toward rational electrolyte optimization for improving the cycling stability of these flow batteries.