Performance enhancement in vanadium redox flow battery using platinum-based electrocatalyst synthesized by polyol process

Sluggish reaction rate of [VO]²⁺/[VO₂]⁺ redox couple is an obstacle to be addressed in vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). To improve the slow reaction rate, Pt/C catalyst synthesized by polyol method is suggested. Its catalytic activity, reaction reversibility and charge-discharge performance are evaluated by half cell and single cell tests, while its crystal structure, particle size and particle distribution are measured by XRD and TEM. The XRD and TEM measurements show the polyol Pt/C catalyst has larger electrochemically active surface (EAS) area and smaller particle size than commercial Pt/C catalyst. When catalytic activities of all the catalysts are estimated, the Pt-included catalysts demonstrate high peak current ratio, small peak potential difference and high electron transfer rate constant, confirming that their catalytic activity and reaction reversibility are excellent. In charge-discharge performance tests, the catalysts indicate high efficiencies as well as low overpotential and internal resistance. Excellent performances of the Pt-included catalysts are attributed to positively charged Pts that serve as active sites for activating [VO]²⁺/ [VO₂]⁺ reaction. Indeed, adoption of the Pt-included catalysts, especially, use of the polyol Pt/C consisting of uniform and small particles helps improve performance of VRFB.