High surface area bio-waste based carbon as a superior electrode for vanadium redox flow battery

Abstract

h i g h l i g h t sHigh surface area activated carbon was synthesized from orange peel (OP-AC). OP-AC showed high porous structure and rich oxygen-containing functional groups. OP-AC coated electrode showed less contact resistance and good catalytic activity. OP-AC coated electrode enhanced voltage and energy efficiency in VRB static cell. a b s t r a c t Activated carbon (AC) with high surface area (1901 m 2 g À1 ) is synthesized from low cost bio-waste orange (Citrus sinensis) peel for vanadium redox flow battery (VRB). The composition, structure and electrochemical properties of orange peel derived AC (OP-AC) are characterized by elemental analyzer, field emission-scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. CV results show that OP-AC coated bipolar plate demonstrates improved electro-catalytic activity in both positive and negative side redox couples than the pristine bipolar plate electrode and this is ascribed to the high surface area of OP-AC which provides effective electrode area and better contact between the porous electrode and bipolar plate. Consequently, the performance of VRB in a static cell shows higher energy efficiency for OP-AC electrode than the pristine electrode at all current densities tested. The results suggest the OP-AC to be a promising electrode for VRB applications and can be incorporated into making conducting plastics electrode to lower the VRB cell stack weight and cost.

Supercapacitor Energy Storage Device Using Biowastes: A Sustainable Approach to Green Energy

“…In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the production of activated carbon from bio-waste for sustainable development [85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93]. Several sources of bio-waste such as animal, mineral, plant, and vegetables etc.…”

Electrocatalysis at Electrodes for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

“…An energy efficiency of about 80% was reported. Activated carbon derived from orange peels have been examined as electrode materials [299]. With PVDF as a binder the obtained material was coated onto a graphite plate.…”

Conversion of Spent Coffee Beans to Electrode Material for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

“…The homogenous slurry of the carbon material (50 mg mL −1 ) was prepared by mixing 5 mg of BC or AC and 45 mg of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) in 1 mL of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solution as previously described [13]. For electrochemical characterization, 60 µL cm −1 of the slurry was deposited on the surface of 0.6 mm thick graphite plates (TF6, SGL Carbon) which were accordingly kept overnight in the oven at 60 • C to remove solvent molecules.…”

“…Utilization of biomass waste as a low-cost, abundant and renewable resource would contribute to green environmental development. For VRB application, we have previously investigated carbon nanomaterial which was produced by using different biomass waste as precursors, such as coconut shell [12] and orange peel [13]. In our present work, via an integrated pyrolysis-steam activation system, we have successfully converted spent coffee beans into activated biochar.…”