Scientific Achievement
Low-cost, sustainable, and elementally diverse biomass feedstocks are converted into activated carbons using a hydrothermal processing method. The suitability of the carbonaceous microparticles as catalysts for vanadium redox flow batteries is contemplated.
Significance and Impact
The findings systematically illuminate feedstock-processing-property relationships, outlining a pathway for identifying key performance descriptors for advancing biomass-based functional materials for use in energy storage applications.
Research Details
- Spectroscopic, electrochemical, and computational techniques reveal the importance of electrochemically accessible surface area as a key performance descriptor for these materials.
- Flow deposition of microparticles onto graphite felt electrodes within the flow batteries leads to immediately realizable increase in power output and has the potential to enable new electrode maintenance strategies that increase performance and extend lifetime.
