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Preparation and characterization of sulfonated polyimide/TiO2 composite membrane for vanadium redox flow battery

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Abstract

A sulfonated polyimide (SPI)/TiO2 composite membrane was fabricated by a blend way to improve its performance in vanadium redox flow battery (VRB). Both EDS and XRD results verify the successful preparation of the SPI/TiO2 composite membrane. The surface SEM image shows its homogeneous structure. TG analysis identifies its thermal stability. The SPI/TiO2 composite membrane possesses much lower permeability of VO2+ ions (2.02 × 10−7 cm2 min−1) and favorable proton conductivity (3.12 × 10−2 S cm−1). The VRB single cell with SPI/TiO2 composite membrane shows higher coulombic efficiency (93.80–98.00 %) and energy efficiency (83.20–67.61 %) at the current density ranged from 20 to 80 mA cm−2 compared with that with Nafion 117 membrane. And the operational stability of the as-prepared composite membrane is good after 50 times of cycling tests. Therefore, the low-cost SPI/TiO2 composite membrane with excellent battery performance exhibits a great potential for application in VRB.

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Acknowledgements

Financial supports from National Natural Scientific Foundation of China (no. 21206138), Key Fund Project of Sichuan Provincial Department of Education (no. 12ZA181), and Graduates' Innovation Fund of Southwest University of Science and Technology (no. 13ycjj14) are greatly appreciated. Our deepest gratitude also goes to Dr. Bengui Zhang at Shenyang University of Chemical Technology for his kind help in VRB tests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Research Center of Biomass Materials, Ministry of Education, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, People’s Republic of China

    Jinchao Li, Yaping Zhang & Lei Wang

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  1. Jinchao Li
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  2. Yaping Zhang
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  3. Lei Wang
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Correspondence to Yaping Zhang.

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Li, J., Zhang, Y. & Wang, L. Preparation and characterization of sulfonated polyimide/TiO2 composite membrane for vanadium redox flow battery. J Solid State Electrochem 18, 729–737 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-013-2309-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-013-2309-7

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