4.7 Article

Exploration of reduced graphene oxide microparticles as electrocatalytic materials in vanadium redox flow batteries

Journal

JOURNAL OF ENERGY STORAGE
Volume 50, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2022.104192

Keywords

Reduced graphene oxide; Passive flow deposition; Carbon felt; Electrocatalyst; Vanadium redox flow battery

Categories

Funding

  1. KACST-MIT Ibn Khaldun Fellowship for Saudi Arabian Women
  2. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program [1122374]
  3. MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation [DMR1419807]
  4. Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), an Energy Innovation Hub - U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences

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Varying the drying step in graphene synthesis can produce rGO electrocatalysts with nearly identical chemical composition but different textures. Critical point drying can lead to a three-fold increase in BET surface area. Decorating carbon felt electrodes with rGO microparticles via a flow deposition procedure can improve performance and durability in VRFB cells.
Augmenting reaction rates on porous carbon electrodes is critical for reducing the cost of all-vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). To this end, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) based carbons hold promise, demonstrating high specific surface area, chemomechanical stability, and electrochemical activity. While initial efforts have shown that rGOs can enhance VRFB performance, the range of unique processing conditions leads to a collection of materials with disparate elemental composition and porous structure, thus obscuring performancedetermining characteristics behind redox reactions and frustrating general design principles. Here, we generate rGO electrocatalysts of nearly identical chemical composition but different textures (i.e., surface area and pore structure) by varying the drying step in the graphene synthesis (i.e., vacuum-drying vs. carbon dioxide critical point drying). We apply spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques on the synthesized rGOs, observing a three-fold increase in BET surface area using critical point drying. We subsequently decorate carbon felt electrodes - both pristine and thermally activated - with rGO microparticles via a flow deposition procedure, and evaluate their performance and durability in a VRFB cell. The synthesis approach and findings described in this work inform and complement efforts to advance the material science and engineering of rGO electrocatalysts.

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