Lignin-derived electrospun freestanding carbons as alternative electrodes for redox flow batteriesShow others and affiliations
2020 (English)In: Carbon, ISSN 0008-6223, E-ISSN 1873-3891, Vol. 157, p. 847-856Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Redox flow batteries represent a remarkable alternative for grid-scale energy storage. They commonly employ carbon felts or carbon papers, which suffer from low activity towards the redox reactions involved, leading to poor performance. Here we propose the use of electrospun freestanding carbon materials derived from lignin as alternative sustainable electrodes for all-vanadium flow batteries. The lignin-derived carbon electrospun mats exhibited a higher activity towards the VO2 +/VO2+ reaction than commercial carbon papers when tested in a three-electrode electrochemical cell (or half-cell), which we attribute to the higher surface area and higher amount of oxygen functional groups at the surface. The electrospun carbon electrodes also showed performance comparable to commercial carbon papers, when tested in a full cell configuration. The modification of the surface chemistry with the addition of phosphorous produced different effect in both samples, which needs further investigation. This work demonstrates for the first time the application of sustainably produced electrospun lignin-derived carbon electrodes in a redox flow cell, with comparable performance to commercial materials and establishes the great potential of biomass-derived carbons in energy devices.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier Ltd , 2020. Vol. 157, p. 847-856
Keywords [en]
Bio-sustainable carbons, Carbon electrodes, Energy conversion, Redox-flow batteries, vanadium electrochemistry, Carbon, Electrochemical electrodes, Lignin, Paper, Redox reactions, Surface chemistry, Vanadium dioxide, Carbon electrode, Cell configurations, Commercial materials, Derived carbons, Different effects, Electrospun mats, Oxygen functional groups, Poor performance, Flow batteries
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-40934DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2019.11.015Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85075442613OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-40934DiVA, id: diva2:1376234
Note
Funding details: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC, EP/S001298/1, 2018-IE02-KAI03-000579; Funding details: Royal Academy of Engineering; Funding details: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC, EP/P031323/1; Funding text 1: The authors ABJ, RJ and MCR thank the CAM-IES for funding ( EP/P007767/1 ). ABJ also thanks the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for financial support ( EP/P031323/1 ). PLC thanks the EPSRC for support via his fellowship, EP/S001298/1 . LG thanks Erasmus+ traineeship program for funding received to support research placement ( 2018-IE02-KAI03-000579 ). PRS acknowledges funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering . Appendix A
2019-12-092019-12-092024-07-28Bibliographically approved