Inducing microstructural changes in Nafion by incorporating graphitic carbon nitride to enhance the vanadium-blocking effect

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP
Chunxiao WuYan Xiang

Abstract

Two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets are introduced into a Nafion matrix to prepare a 'vanadium-blocking' recast Nafion membrane for vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) applications. After 0.2 wt% g-C3N4nanosheets are incorporated, the vanadium ion permeability of the composite membrane decreases from 3.3 × 10-7cm2min-1to 3.8 × 10-9cm2min-1, which is a reduction of two orders of magnitude in comparison to the pristine recast Nafion membrane. This satisfactory result contributes to the physical blocking effect as well as the Donnan effect from the 2D morphology and functional amino groups of g-C3N4nanosheets. Notably, this work reveals that the g-C3N4nanosheets can help reinforce the vanadium-blocking effect by changing the microstructure of Nafion in addition to the well-known effects mentioned above. The g-C3N4nanosheets induce shrinkage in the original spherical structure of the ion cluster and generate a new lamellar structure. Correspondingly, the amorphous phase of Nafion is interrupted, and the membrane crystallinity is reduced. The VRFB with an optimized composite membrane achieves a high coulombic efficiency of 97% and an energy efficiency of 83% at a current density of 160 mA cm-2. Meanwhile, the...Continue Reading

References

Jan 27, 2005·Chemical Reviews·Kenneth A Mauritz, Robert B Moore
Nov 11, 2008·Nature Materials·Xinchen WangMarkus Antonietti
Nov 22, 2011·ChemSusChem·Birgit SchwenzerZhenguo Yang
Apr 3, 2015·Angewandte Chemie·Jinshui ZhangXinchen Wang

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Citations

Nov 13, 2019·Chemistry, an Asian Journal·Cheng Jiang, Chengliang Wang

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
transmission electron microscopy
atomic force microscopy
X-ray
atomic
scanning electron microscopy
AFM

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