Effect of organic additives on positive electrolyte for vanadium redox battery

Fructose, mannitol, glucose, d-sorbitol are explored as additives in electrolyte for vanadium redox battery (VRB), respectively. The effects of additives on electrolyte are studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV), charge–discharge technique, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Raman spectroscopy. The results indicate that the vanadium redox cell using the electrolyte with the additive of d-sorbitol exhibits the best electrochemical performance (the energy efficiency 81.8%). The EIS results indicate that the electrochemical activity of the electrolyte is improved by adding d-sorbitol, which can be interpreted as the increase of available (–OH) groups providing active sites for electron transfer. The Raman spectra show that VO2+ ions take part in forming a complex with the d-sorbitol, which not only improve solubility of V(V) electrolyte, but also provide more activity sites for the V(IV)/V(V) redox reaction.

► Four organics as electrolyte additives of vanadium redox battery.
► Changes are examined in the electrochemical properties of vanadium redox battery.
► d-sorbitol is a suitable additive to the electrolyte for the vanadium redox battery.
► The mechanism of improvement is discussed in detail.