TY - JOUR
T1 - Charge carrier molecular sieve (CCMS) membranes with anti-aging effect for long-life vanadium redox flow batteries
AU - Ghasemiestahbanati, Ehsan
AU - Shaibani, Mahdokht
AU - Konstas, Kristina
AU - Chakrabarti, Barun K.
AU - Low, C. T.John
AU - Majumder, Mainak
AU - Hill, Matthew R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy (MCEM) for the facility, Prof. Matthew M. Mench from the University of Tennessee, USA, for useful discussion, and Yingyi Huang from Monash University for water contact angle measurement. M.R.H., E.G., M.S., and M.M. acknowledge Australian Research Council for financial support through DP190100880. C.T.J.L., B.K.C., M.S., and M.R.H. are grateful to the Monash-Warwick Alliance Research Catalyst Fund 2019 for support to this work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2022/1/14
Y1 - 2022/1/14
N2 - Vanadium crossover hinders widespread commercial adoption of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). Superglassy polymers have the potential to offer high selectivity needed to control the crossover but as yet do not possess the requisite proton conductivity and stability. Here, we explore nanocomposite separators that can improve this selectivity. We report a dual-function charge carrier molecular sieve (CCMS) membrane, consisting of a high free volume microporous glassy polymer, poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] (PTMSP)/sulfonated PAF (PAF-1-SO3H), that effectively hinders the migration of hydrated vanadium ions. Furthermore, ideally placed PAF-1-SO3H pores not only proved excellent for developing proton conductive channels but also suppressed physical aging within the separator. Experiments then linked this to an increased battery cycle life. As a consequence of achieving higher and more stable VRFB performance compared to benchmarked Nafion (Coulombic efficiencies of 97 vs 87% and capacity retention values of 85 vs 58% at a current density of 60 mA cm-2, respectively), our integrated design heralds a class of stable separators for hydrogen-based energy technologies.
AB - Vanadium crossover hinders widespread commercial adoption of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). Superglassy polymers have the potential to offer high selectivity needed to control the crossover but as yet do not possess the requisite proton conductivity and stability. Here, we explore nanocomposite separators that can improve this selectivity. We report a dual-function charge carrier molecular sieve (CCMS) membrane, consisting of a high free volume microporous glassy polymer, poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] (PTMSP)/sulfonated PAF (PAF-1-SO3H), that effectively hinders the migration of hydrated vanadium ions. Furthermore, ideally placed PAF-1-SO3H pores not only proved excellent for developing proton conductive channels but also suppressed physical aging within the separator. Experiments then linked this to an increased battery cycle life. As a consequence of achieving higher and more stable VRFB performance compared to benchmarked Nafion (Coulombic efficiencies of 97 vs 87% and capacity retention values of 85 vs 58% at a current density of 60 mA cm-2, respectively), our integrated design heralds a class of stable separators for hydrogen-based energy technologies.
KW - charge carrier molecular sieve (CCMS) separator
KW - H/Vselectivity
KW - sulfonated porous aromatic framework
KW - super glassy polymer
KW - thin-film composite mixed matrix membrane
KW - vanadium redox flow battery
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123930735&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsaem.1c02906
DO - 10.1021/acsaem.1c02906
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85123930735
VL - 5
SP - 1505
EP - 1515
JO - ACS Applied Energy Materials
JF - ACS Applied Energy Materials
SN - 2574-0962
IS - 2
ER -