Printing:Coating Electrodes with Hybrid Carbon-Bismuth Nanoparticles for Energy Storage Applications

Trevor Yates, Adam McNeeley, William Barrett | GRA: Abhinandh Sankar, AC: Dr. Anastasios Angelopoulos | University of Cincinnati

Introduction Renewable energy must eventually replace fossil fuels in the

power grid

Renewable energy must be stored efficiently for economic

viability

• Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFBs) are attractive for this

application due to their high stability

• VRFBs lack sufficient power density, energy conversion

efficiency, and rate capability

• Recent study improved energy conversion efficiency of VRFBs

11% by using Bismuth nanoparticles [1]

• Investigate Bismuth and Carbon nanoparticles in order to

further improve VRFB performance

Procedure

Results Conclusions Trend is observed that Carbon stabilizes Bismuth

Peak current increases as more layers are applied

Standard Layer-by-Layer Assembly is a better technique

than directed Layer-by-Layer Assembly for this application

Cationic polymer is best used to separate Carbon and Bismuth

nanoparticles

Acknowledgments

Future Research

Verify that Carbon stabilizes Bismuth peaks

Investigate why Carbon stabilizes Bismuth peaks

Perform microscopic characterization of Carbon and Bismuth

nanoparticles

Scale up the production of Bismuth nanoparticles and electrode

assembly

Quantify the improvement on Vanadium Redox Flow Battery

performance

• Thank you NSF for funding this project: Grant Nos. DUE 0756921 and EEC

1004623.

• This material is based upon work supported by the National Science

Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE 0756921 and EEC 1004623. Any

opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this

material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of

the National Science Foundation.

• Special thanks to Abhinandh Sankar and Dr. Anastasios Angelopoulos

• [1] Suarez, David J.; Gonzalez, Zoraida; et al. (2014). “Graphite Felt Modified

with Bismuth Nanoparticles as Negative Electrode in a Vanadium Redox

Flow Battery,” ChemSusChem, Vol.7, No. 3, pp. 914-918.

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 5 10 15 20 25

Perc

ent

Cycle Number

Higher Stability With Carbon

Carbon

No Carbon

-0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6

-0.2

-0.15

-0.1

-0.05

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

Potential (V vs Ag/AgCl)

Cu

rre

nt D

en

sity (

mA

/cm

2)

sLbL vs. dLbL

dLbL

sLbL

-0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6

-0.2

-0.15

-0.1

-0.05

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

Potential (V vs Ag/AgCl)

Cu

rre

nt D

en

sity (

mA

/cm

2)

4-Layers vs. 8-Layers

4-Layers

8-Layers

Objectives• Construct electrocatalysts with Layer-by-Layer Assembly

• Use cyclic voltammetry in order to electrochemically

characterize the electocatalysts

• Find whether Carbon adds stability to the peaks

• Determine if more layers leads to higher current density peaks

• Compare the performance of standard Layer-by-Layer

Assembly (sLbL) and directed Layer-by-Layer Assembly

(dLbL) in order to gain a better understanding of how Carbon

and Bismuth nanoparticles interact

• Each component dries two minutes and then washes in

deionized water for one minute

• NaOH washes away the Tin particles after all layers are

applied

• sLbL is stacked with Polymer, Carbon, Polymer, Bismuth-

Tin complex for each layer

• dLbL is stacked with Polymer, Carbon, Bismuth-Tin

complex for each layer

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/smooth-sailing-for-wind-power-with-

new-flow-battery-or-not-34476