Nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon for energy storage in vanadium redox flow batteries
- ORNL
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
We demonstrate an excellent performance of nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (N-MPC) for energy storage in vanadium redox flow batteries. Mesoporous carbon (MPC) is prepared using a soft-template method and doped with nitrogen by heat-treating MPC in NH{sub 3}. N-MPC is characterized with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The redox reaction of [VO]{sup 2+}/[VO{sub 2}]{sup +} is characterized with cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electrocatalytic kinetics of the redox couple [VO]{sup 2+}/[VO{sub 2}]{sup +} is significantly enhanced on N-MPC electrode compared with MPC and graphite electrodes. The reversibility of the redox couple [VO]{sup 2+}/[VO{sub 2}]{sup +} is greatly improved on N-MPC (0.61 for N-MPC vs. 0.34 for graphite), which is expected to increase the energystorage efficiency of redoxflowbatteries. Nitrogen doping facilitates the electron transfer on electrode/electrolyte interface for both oxidation and reduction processes. N-MPC is a promising material for redoxflowbatteries. This also opens up new and wider applications of nitrogen-doped carbon.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1044707
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 195, Issue 13; ISSN 0378-7753
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Highly Graphitic Mesoporous Fe,N-Doped Carbon Materials for Oxygen Reduction Electrochemical Catalysts
Coupled Experimental–Theoretical Characterization of a Carbon Electrode in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy