Volume 38: Energy Transitions toward Carbon Neutrality: Part I

Performance of an all-aqueous thermally regenerative flow battery using CNT/carbon cloth composite electrode Si Li, Yichao An, Jieyu Jia, Liang Zhang , Jun Li, Qian Fu, Xun Zhu, Qiang Liao

Abstract

All-aqueous thermally regenerative battery (ATRB) is a promising technology for converting low-grade waste heat into electricity while the low specific surface area of electrodes limits its performance. In this study, a porous composite electrode by modifying carbon cloth with carbon nanotubes (CNT/CC) is developed to promote battery performance, and the effect of CNT loading amount is analyzed. The results indicate that the porous composite electrode has a significantly larger specific surface area, resulting in a 37.4% increase in battery performance compared to ATRB with the traditional carbon cloth (CC) electrode. In addition, ATRB performance initially rises and then declines with the increasing carbon nanotube loading. The optimal loading (4 mg) induces a peak power density of 492.6 W/m², which is competitive for future practical applications of ATRBs.

Keywords All-aqueous thermally regenerative flow battery, composite electrode, specific surface area, energy systems for power generation, environment and carbon nanotube loading