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Title: Capacitive Energy Extraction by Few-Layer Graphene Electrodes

Abstract

Capacitive double-layer expansion is a promising technology to harvest energy arising from the salinity difference between freshwater and seawater. Its optimal performance requires a careful selection of the operation potentials and electrode materials. While carbonaceous materials such as graphene and various forms of activated carbons are routinely used as the electrodes, there is little knowledge on how the quantum capacitance and the electric double-layer (EDL) capacitance, which are on the same order of magnitude, affect the capacitive performance. Toward understanding that from a theoretical perspective, here we study the capacitive energy extraction with graphene electrodes as a function of the number of graphene layers. The classical density functional theory is joined with the electronic density functional theory to obtain the EDL and the quantum capacitance, respectively. The theoretical results show that the quantum capacitance contribution plays a dominant role in extracting energy using the single-layer graphene, but its effect diminishes as the number of graphene layers increases. The overall extracted energy is dominated by the EDL contribution beyond about four graphene layers. Electrodes with more graphene layers are able to extract more energy at low charging potential. Here, because many porous carbons have nanopores with stacked graphene layers, our theoreticalmore » predictions are useful to identify optimal operation parameters for capacitive energy extraction with porous electrodes of different wall thickness.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. East China Univ. of Science and Technology, Shanghai (People's Republic of China); Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)
  3. East China Univ. of Science and Technology, Shanghai (People's Republic of China)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport Center (FIRST)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1399238
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Physical Chemistry. C
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 121; Journal Issue: 26; Journal ID: ISSN 1932-7447
Publisher:
American Chemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Citation Formats

Lian, Cheng, Zhan, Cheng, Jiang, De-en, Liu, Honglai, and Wu, Jianzhong. Capacitive Energy Extraction by Few-Layer Graphene Electrodes. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02827.
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Lian, Cheng, Zhan, Cheng, Jiang, De-en, Liu, Honglai, & Wu, Jianzhong. Capacitive Energy Extraction by Few-Layer Graphene Electrodes. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02827
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Lian, Cheng, Zhan, Cheng, Jiang, De-en, Liu, Honglai, and Wu, Jianzhong. Fri . "Capacitive Energy Extraction by Few-Layer Graphene Electrodes". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02827. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1399238.
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@article{osti_1399238,
title = {Capacitive Energy Extraction by Few-Layer Graphene Electrodes},
author = {Lian, Cheng and Zhan, Cheng and Jiang, De-en and Liu, Honglai and Wu, Jianzhong},
abstractNote = {Capacitive double-layer expansion is a promising technology to harvest energy arising from the salinity difference between freshwater and seawater. Its optimal performance requires a careful selection of the operation potentials and electrode materials. While carbonaceous materials such as graphene and various forms of activated carbons are routinely used as the electrodes, there is little knowledge on how the quantum capacitance and the electric double-layer (EDL) capacitance, which are on the same order of magnitude, affect the capacitive performance. Toward understanding that from a theoretical perspective, here we study the capacitive energy extraction with graphene electrodes as a function of the number of graphene layers. The classical density functional theory is joined with the electronic density functional theory to obtain the EDL and the quantum capacitance, respectively. The theoretical results show that the quantum capacitance contribution plays a dominant role in extracting energy using the single-layer graphene, but its effect diminishes as the number of graphene layers increases. The overall extracted energy is dominated by the EDL contribution beyond about four graphene layers. Electrodes with more graphene layers are able to extract more energy at low charging potential. Here, because many porous carbons have nanopores with stacked graphene layers, our theoretical predictions are useful to identify optimal operation parameters for capacitive energy extraction with porous electrodes of different wall thickness.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02827},
journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry. C},
number = 26,
volume = 121,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jun 09 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Fri Jun 09 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
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Journal Article:
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b02827
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Study of a water-graphene capacitor with molecular density functional theory
    journal, September 2019

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    • The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 151, Issue 12
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    Hunting ionic liquids with large electrochemical potential windows
    journal, November 2018

    • Lian, Cheng; Liu, Honglai; Li, Chunzhong
    • AIChE Journal, Vol. 65, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1002/aic.16467
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