TY - JOUR
T1 - Mesoporous carbon derived from pomelo peel as a high-performance electrode material for zinc-bromine flow batteries
AU - Wu, M. C.
AU - Zhang, R. H.
AU - Liu, K.
AU - Sun, J.
AU - Chan, K. Y.
AU - Zhao, T. S.
N1 - Funding Information:
The work described in this paper was fully supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. T23-601/17-R ).
Funding Information:
The work described in this paper was fully supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. T23-601/17-R).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Owing to the high energy density and low cost, the zinc-bromine flow battery is regarded as one of the most promising candidates for large-scale energy storage. However, the widespread applications of this type of battery are hindered by its low power density, resulting primarily from the large polarization in the positive electrode. Here, we develop a highly active mesoporous carbon material for zinc-bromine flow batteries by carbonizing pomelo peel impregnated with nickel salts followed by acid washing. The nickel species not only acts as a catalyst for graphitization, but also etches the carbon surface to generate pores, both of which improve the electrochemical performance of the carbon material. It is demonstrated that the obtained carbon exhibits a remarkable activity toward Br2/Br− redox reactions, and enables the zinc-bromine flow battery to operate at 100 mA cm−2 with an energy efficiency of as high as 81.2%. By contrast, the batteries assembled with the carbon material obtained by directly carbonizing pomelo peel without nickel salts and the pristine graphite-felt electrode can only deliver energy efficiencies of 74.0% and 68.7%, respectively. In addition, no degradation is observed for 100 cycles, indicating the outstanding stability of the prepared carbon for zinc-bromine flow batteries.
AB - Owing to the high energy density and low cost, the zinc-bromine flow battery is regarded as one of the most promising candidates for large-scale energy storage. However, the widespread applications of this type of battery are hindered by its low power density, resulting primarily from the large polarization in the positive electrode. Here, we develop a highly active mesoporous carbon material for zinc-bromine flow batteries by carbonizing pomelo peel impregnated with nickel salts followed by acid washing. The nickel species not only acts as a catalyst for graphitization, but also etches the carbon surface to generate pores, both of which improve the electrochemical performance of the carbon material. It is demonstrated that the obtained carbon exhibits a remarkable activity toward Br2/Br− redox reactions, and enables the zinc-bromine flow battery to operate at 100 mA cm−2 with an energy efficiency of as high as 81.2%. By contrast, the batteries assembled with the carbon material obtained by directly carbonizing pomelo peel without nickel salts and the pristine graphite-felt electrode can only deliver energy efficiencies of 74.0% and 68.7%, respectively. In addition, no degradation is observed for 100 cycles, indicating the outstanding stability of the prepared carbon for zinc-bromine flow batteries.
KW - Biomass-derived carbon
KW - Br/Br redox reaction
KW - Energy storage
KW - Mesoporous carbon
KW - Zinc-bromine flow battery
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072799053&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2019.227255
DO - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2019.227255
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85072799053
SN - 0378-7753
VL - 442
JO - Journal of Power Sources
JF - Journal of Power Sources
M1 - 227255
ER -
