Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6682086 | Applied Energy | 2016 | 7 Pages |
Abstract
Conventional vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) using Nafion 115 suffered from issues associated with high ohmic resistance and high capital cost. In this work, we report a commercial membrane (VANADion), consisting of a porous layer and a dense Nafion layer, as a promising alternative to Nafion 115. In the dual-layer structure, the porous layer (â¼210 μm) can offer a high ionic conductivity and the dense Nafion layer (â¼20 μm) can depress the convective flow of electrolyte through the membrane. By comparing with the conventional Nafion 115 in a VRFB, it is found that the change from the conventional Nafion 115 to the composite one results in an increase in the energy efficiency from 71.3% to 76.2% and an increase in the electrolyte utilization from 54.1% to 68.4% at a current density of as high as 240 mA cmâ2. In addition, although two batteries show the comparable cycling performance at current densities ranging from 80 mA cmâ2 to 240 mA cmâ2, the composite membrane is estimated to be significantly cheaper than the conventional Nafion 115 due to the fact that the porous layer is rather cost-effective and the dense Nafion layer is rather thin. The impressive combination of desirable performance and low cost makes this composite membrane highly promising in the VRFB applications.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Energy
Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Authors
X.L. Zhou, T.S. Zhao, L. An, Y.K. Zeng, X.B. Zhu,