Cavitand-porous organic polymer and PAN hybrid electrospun fiber derived heteroatoms rich activated carbon fiber for VRFB application
Journal
Journal of Power Sources
Journal Volume
653
Start Page
237699
ISSN
0378-7753
Date Issued
2025-10
Author(s)
Abstract
In this study, cavitand based porous organic polymer (CDP) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite derived activated carbon nanofibers (PAN/CDP_ACFs) with heteroatoms nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) are prepared by using electrospinning and carbonization methods. The incorporation of CDP significantly increases the porosity and functional groups, which further enhances the electrode's electrochemical activity and stability. The presence of the heteroatoms network facilitates additional reactive sites for vanadium redox reactions (VO2+/VO2+ and V2+/V3+). The PAN/CDP_4_ACF modified graphite felt (GF) electrode demonstrates higher electrochemical reversibility with the lowest peak to peak potential separation (ΔEp) for VO2+/VO2+ (429 mV) and V2+/V3+ (247 mV) compared to other synthesized fibers. The vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) full cell, comprising PAN/CDP_4_ACF/GF as both positive and negative electrodes shows low electrochemical polarization and larger discharge capacity (25.1 Ah L−1 @50 mA cm−2). The PAN/CDP_4_ACF/GF based VRFB achieves energy efficiency (EE) of 70.8%, and long-term retention of EE of 92.2% (800 cycles @200 mA cm−2). The polarization curve also reveals a maximum power density of 295 mW cm−2. Finally, this study introduces a new kind active material with exceptional physical and electrochemical properties for VRFBs.
Subjects
Activated carbon fiber
Electrospinning
PAN derived carbon fiber
Porous organic polymer
Vanadium redox flow battery
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article