• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.94-102
• /
• 2014

Cation exchange membrane (Nafion) was modified to reduce the vanadium ion permeation through the membrane and to increase the vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) system performance by coating the graphene oxide (GO) which has nano-plate like morphology. Modified membrane properties were studied by measuring the ion exchange capacity (I.E.C), water uptake and proton conductivity. The thickness of the coated layer on the surface of the Nafion membrane was observed as $0.93{\mu}m$ by SEM. Proton conductivity and vanadium ion permeability of the modified membrane were decreased to 27% and 25% compared to that of the commercial Nafion membrane respectively. VRB single cell performance test was performed to compare the system performance of the VRB applied with commercial Nafion membrane and modified membrane. VRB system applied with modified membrane showed higher coulombic efficiency and energy efficiency than the VRB system applied with the commercial Nafion membrane due to the reduction of the vanadium ion permeation. From these result, we could suggest that the membrane modification by coating the GO on the surface of the Nafion membrane could be one of the promising strategies to reduce the vanadium ion permeation and to increase the VRB system performance effectively.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.51 no.6
• /
• pp.671-676
• /
• 2013

Recently, there are many efforts focused on development of Redox Flow Battery (RFB) for large energy storage system. Economical hydrocarbon membranes alternative to fluorinated membranes for RFB membrane are receiving attention. In this study, characteristics of poly(arylene ether sulfone) (PAES) were compared with expensive fluorinated membrane at VRB (Vanadium Redox Flow Battery) operation condition. Permeability of vanadium ion through membrane, ion exchange capacity (IEC), change of OCV, swelling, charge-discharge curves and energy efficiency were measured. PAES membrane showed lower permeability of vanadium ion, higher IEC and then higher energy efficiency compared with Nafion 117 membranes.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.1651-1655
• /
• 2013

Anion exchange membranes for a vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) were prepared by pore-filling on a PE substrate with the copolymerization of vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). The ion exchange capacity, water uptake and weight gain ratio were increased with a similar tendency up to 65% of GMA content, indicating that the monomer improved the pore-filling degree and membrane properties. The vanadium ion permeability and open-circuit voltage were also investigated. The permeability of the VG65 membrane was only $1.23{\times}10^{-7}\;cm^2\;min^{-1}$ compared to $17.9{\times}10^{-7}\;cm^2\;min^{-1}$ for Nafion 117 and $1.8{\times}10^{-7}\;cm^2\;min^{-1}$ for AMV. Consequently, a VRB single cell using the prepared membrane showed higher energy efficiency (over 80%) of up to 100 cycles compared to the commercial membranes, Nafion 117 (ca. 58%) and AMV (ca. 70%).

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.330-338
• /
• 2021

An integral electrode-bipolar plate assembly, which is composed of electrode, conductive adhesive film (CAF) and bipolar plate, has been developed and evaluated for application with a vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) to decrease contact resistance between electrode and bipolar plate. The CAF, made of EVA (ethylene-vinyl-acetate) material with carbon black or CNT (Carbon Nano Tube), is applied between the electrode and the bipolar plate to enable an integral assembly by adhesion. In order to evaluate the integral assembly of VRB by adhesive film, the resistivity of integral assembly and the performance of single cell were investigated. Thus, it was verified that the integral assembly is applicable to redox flow battery. Through resistance and contact resistance of bare EVA and CAF films on bipolar plate were changed. Among the adhesive films, CAF film coated with carbon black showed the lowest value in through resistance, and CAF film coated with CNT showed the lowest value in contact resistance, respectively. The efficiency of VRB single cell was improved by applying CAF films coated with carbon black and CNT, resulting in the reduced overvoltage in charging process. Therefore, the energy efficiency of both CAF films, about 84%, were improved than that of blank cell, about 79.5 % under current density at 40 mA cm^-2. The energy efficiency of the two cells were similar, but carbon black coated CAF improved the coulomb efficiency and CNT coated CAF improved the voltage efficiency, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.204-210
• /
• 2013

Thin pore-filled cation and anion-exchange membranes (PFCEM and PFAEMs, $t_m=25-30{\mu}m$) were prepared using a porous polymeric substrate for efficient all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRB). The electrochemical and charge-discharge performances of the membranes have been systematically investigated and compared with those of commercially available ion-exchange membranes. The pore-filled membranes were shown to have higher permselectivity as well as lower electrical resistances than those of the commercial membranes. In addition, the VRBs employing the pore-filled membranes exhibited the respectable charge-discharge performances, showing the energy efficiencies (EE) of 82.4% and 84.9% for the PFCEM and PFAEM, respectively (cf. EE = 87.2% for Nafion 1135). The results demonstrated that the pore-filled ion-exchange membranes could be successfully used in VRBs as an efficient separator by replacing expensive Nafion membrane.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.263-270
• /
• 2009

Carbon felt surface was modified by heat or acid treatment in order to use for the electrode of a redox-flow battery. Polymers on the surface of carbon felt was removed and oxygen-containing functional group was attached after the thermal treatment of carbon felt. Thermal treatment was better for the stability of the carbon structure than the acid treatment. Oxygen-containing functional group on the thermally treated carbon felt at 500$^{\circ}C$ was confirmed by XPS and elementary analysis. BET surface area was increased from nearly zero to 96 $m^2/g$. Thermally treated carbon felt at 500$^{\circ}C$ showed lower activation polarization than the thermally treated carbon felt at 400$^{\circ}C$ and the acid-treated carbon felt in the cyclicvoltammetry and polarization experiments. The thermally treated carbon felts at 400$^{\circ}C$ and 500$^{\circ}C$ and the acid-treated carbon felt was applied for the electrode to prepare vanadium redox flow battery. Voltage efficiencies of charge/discharge were 86.6%, 89.6%, and 96.9% for the thermally treated carbon felts at 400$^{\circ}C$ and 500$^{\circ}C$ and the acid-treated carbon felt, respectively.