Review—Electrode Kinetics and Electrolyte Stability in Vanadium Flow Batteries

Andrea Bourke, Daniela Oboroceanu, Nathan Quill, Catherine Lenihan, Maria Alhajji Safi, Mallory A. Miller, Robert F. Savinell, Jesse S. Wainright, Varsha SasikumarSP, Maria Rybalchenko, Pupak Amini, Niall Dalton, Robert P. Lynch, D. Noel Buckley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Two aspects of vanadium flow batteries are reviewed: electrochemical kinetics on carbon electrodes and positive electrolyte stability. There is poor agreement between reported values of kinetic parameters; however, most authors report that kinetic rates are faster for VIV/VV than for VII/VIII. Cycling the electrode potential increases the rates of both reactions initially due to roughening but when no further roughening is observed, the VII/VIII and VIV/VV reactions are affected oppositely by the pretreatment potential. Anodic pretreatment activates the electrode for the VII/VIII reaction, and deactivates it for VIV/VV. Three states of the carbon surface are suggested: reduced and oxidized states R and O, respectively, both with low electrocatalytic activity, and an intermediate state M with higher activity. The role of surface functional groups and the mechanisms of electron transfer for the VII/VIII and VIV/VV reactions are still not well understood. The induction time for precipitation of V2O5 from positive electrolytes decreases with temperature, showing an Arrhenius-type dependence with an activation energy of 1.79 eV in agreement with DFT calculations based on a VO(OH)3 intermediate. It also decreases exponentially with increasing VV concentration and increases exponentially with increasing sulphate concentration. Both arsenate and phosphate are effective additives for improving thermal stability.

Original languageEnglish
Article number030504
JournalJournal of the Electrochemical Society
Volume170
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2023

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