Scientific Achievement
This work describes a simple and reliable method to electrospinning fibers with a flat ribbon-like morphology with increased surface area to volume ratio. The new materials outperformed commercial materials at low-to-moderate current density in an operating flow cell.
Significance and Impact
The development of new porous materials with property profiles that deviate from underperforming commercial materials is an important step to advancing new RFB systems. The synthesis approach describe in this work may offer a platform for chemistry-specific electrode design.
Research Details
- The electrospun materials were synthesized using a shell-hollowing technique to produce a flat ribbon architecture.
- These electrodes exhibit both high permeability and porosity throughout compression.
- When compared to a commercial carbon paper, the electrospun materials provide higher power density at low overpotentials, largely due to volumetric surface area.
