Nitrogen-doped Carbon Paper as Electrodes for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

doi:10.15541/jim20140656

Abstract

Abstract:

To improve the electrochemical activity of carbon paper (CP) for vanadium redox flow batteries, CP was modified by heat treatment in atmosphere of NH₃ at 600 (NCP-600) and 900℃ (NCP-900), respectively. The FTIR results indicate that the nitrogenous groups have been introduced on the surface of CP by modification successfully. Compared with the pristine sample, the water contact angle of NCP-900 decreases from 120.5° to 99.7°, indicating the improved hydrophilicity of CP by nitrogen doping. The SEM results show that there is no obvious morphology change on the surface of CP after nitrogen doping, which do not affect the mechanical property. The electrochemical activity of CP is enhanced significantly by nitrogen doping. The oxidation current peak of V(Ⅳ)/V(Ⅴ) couple on NCP-900 is 92.1 mA, much higher than that of pristine sample (68.9 mA). The cells with NCP-900 and pristine sample as electrodes were assembled and the charge-discharge performance was evaluated. The energy efficiency of cell with NCP-900 as electrode at a current density of 20 mA/cm² is 83.73%, 2.59% larger than that with the pristine sample. The improved electrochemical performance of nitrogen-doped carbon paper is due to the increased active sites and the enhanced hydrophilicity provided by the introduced nitrogenous groups.

Key words: vanadium redox flow batteries, nitrogen doping, carbon paper, kinetics

CLC Number:

TQ174

HE Zhang-Xing, LIU Jian-Lei, HE Zhen, LIU Su-Qin. Nitrogen-doped Carbon Paper as Electrodes for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2015, 30(7): 779-784.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Surface morphologies of different carbon paper (a) CP; (b) NCP-600; (c) NCP-900

Fig. 2 FTIR spectra of different carbon paper (a) CP; (b) NCP-600; (c) NCP-900

Fig. 3 Cross-sectional views of water droplets on different carbon paper (a) CP; (b) NCP-600; (c) NCP-900

Fig. 4 Cyclic voltammograms of 1.0 mol/L V(IV) in 3.0 mol/L H2SO4 solution with different carbon paper as working electrode

Table 1 Relevant data obtained from cyclic voltammetry for 1.0 mol/L V(IV) solution with different carbon paper

Sample	Anodic peak, I_pc/mA	Cathodic peak, I_pc/mA	Peak potential interval, ΔE_p/mV	I_pa/I_pc
CP	68.9	43.1	329	0.626
NCP-600	83.8	55.3	290	0.660
NCP-900	92.1	62.4	297	0.678

Fig. 5 The 10th charge-discharge curves of the cells employing different carbon papers as electrodes at a current density of 20 mA/cm2

Fig. 6 Efficiencies of cells employing CP and NCP-900 as electrodes at a current density of 20 mA/cm2

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