title: A new strategy for integrating abundant oxygen functional groups into carbon felt electrode for vanadium redox flow batteries.
abstract: The effects of surface treatment combining corona discharge and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on the electrochemical performance of carbon felt electrodes for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) have been thoroughly investigated. A high concentration of oxygen functional groups has been successfully introduced onto the surface of the carbon felt electrodes by a specially designed surface treatment, which is mainly responsible for improving the energy efficiency of VRFBs. In addition, the wettability of the carbon felt electrodes also can be significantly improved. The energy efficiency of the VRFB cell employing the surface modified carbon felt electrodes is improved by 7% at high current density (148 mA cm(-2)). Such improvement is attributed to the faster charge transfer and better wettability allowed by surface-active oxygen functional groups. Moreover, this method is much more competitive than other surface treatments in terms of processing time, production costs, and electrochemical performance.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Batteries Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Seongnam Gyeonggi 463-816, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ki Jae
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Advanced Batteries Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Seongnam Gyeonggi 463-816, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Wook
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Advanced Batteries Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Seongnam Gyeonggi 463-816, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Taeeun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yim
authors.affiliation: Advanced Batteries Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Seongnam Gyeonggi 463-816, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Geun
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Energy, Environment, Water, and Sustainability (EEWS), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehakro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jang Wook
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, University of Wollongong, Innovation Campus, North Wollongong, New South Wales 2500, Australia.
authors.forename: Jung Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Advanced Batteries Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Seongnam Gyeonggi 463-816, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Sik
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Advanced Batteries Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Seongnam Gyeonggi 463-816, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim