Redox flow batteries are promising technologies for large-scale electricity storage, but have been suffering from low energy density and low volumetric capacity. Here we report a flow cathode that exploits highly concentrated sulphur-impregnated carbon composite, to achieve a catholyte volumetric capacity 294 Ah l(-1) with long cycle life (>100 cycles), high columbic efficiency (>90%, 100 cycles) and high energy efficiency (>80%, 100 cycles). The demonstrated catholyte volumetric capacity is five times higher than the all-vanadium flow batteries (60 Ah l(-1)) and 3-6 times higher than the demonstrated lithium-polysulphide approaches (50-117 Ah l(-1)). Pseudo-in situ impedance and microscopy characterizations reveal superior electrochemical and morphological reversibility of the sulphur redox reactions. Our approach of exploiting sulphur-impregnated carbon composite in the flow cathode creates effective interfaces between the insulating sulphur and conductive carbon-percolating network and offers a promising direction to develop high-energy-density flow batteries.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6877 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Zincophilic CuO as electron sponge to facilitate dendrite-free zinc-based flow battery.
Nat Commun
January 2025
Energy Storage Research Department, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), Daejeon, 34129, Republic of Korea.
Zinc (Zn)-based batteries have been persistently challenged by the critical issue of inhomogeneous zinc deposition/stripping process on substrate surface. Herein, we reveal that zinc electrodeposition behaviors dramatically improved through the introduction of highly zincophilic copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs). Strong electronic redistribution between Zn and CuO explains the high Zn affinity on CuO, with negligible nucleation overpotential.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDevelopment and Evaluation of Butyl Norbornene Based Cross-Linked Anion Exchange Membranes for Enhanced Nonaqueous Redox Flow Battery Efficiency.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri 65409, United States.
Nonaqueous redox flow batteries (NARFBs) have been plagued by the lack of appropriate separators to prevent crossover. In this article, the synthesis and characterization of poly(norbornene) (PNB) anion-exchange membranes (AEMs) were studied. PNB is a copolymer of butyl norbornene (BuNB) and bromobutyl norbornene (BrBuNB) with varying amounts of tetramethyl hexadiamine cross-linker.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConstructing new-generation ion exchange membranes under confinement regime.
Natl Sci Rev
February 2025
Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
Ion exchange membranes (IEMs) enable fast and selective ion transport and the partition of electrode reactions, playing an important role in the fields of precise ion separation, renewable energy storage and conversion, and clean energy production. Traditional IEMs form ion channels at the nanometer-scale via the assembly of flexible polymeric chains, which are trapped in the permeability/conductivity and selectivity trade-off dilemma due to a high swelling propensity. New-generation IEMs have shown great potential to break this intrinsic limitation by using microporous framework channels for ion transport under a confinement regime.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImproving the Stability of Gas Diffusion Electrodes for CO Electroreduction to Formate with Sn and In-Based Catalysts at 500 mA cm: Effect of Electrode Design and Operation Mode.
ACS Omega
January 2025
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver V6T 1Z3, Canada.
The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CORR) using renewable electricity sources could provide a sustainable solution for generating valuable chemicals, such as formate salt or formic acid. However, an efficient, stable, and scalable electrode generating formate at industrially viable current densities (>100 mA cm) is yet to be developed. Sn or In-based catalysts in gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) can efficiently produce formate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRedox-Active Bisphosphonate-Based Viologens as Negolytes for Aqueous Organic Flow Batteries.
Chemistry
January 2025
University of Turku: Turun Yliopisto, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, FINLAND.
Viologen derivatives feature two reversible one-electron redox processes and have been extensively utilized in aqueous organic flow batteries (AOFBs). However, the early variant, methyl viologen (MVi), exhibits low stability in aqueous electrolytes, restricting its practical implementation in AOFB technology. In this context, leveraging the tunability of organic molecules, various substituents have been incorporated into the viologen core to achieve better stability, lower redox potential, and improved solubility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!