High Surface Area Carbon Electrodes for the Bromine Reactions in H_2-Br_2 Fuel Cells

摘要

The H_2-Br_2 system is considered as one of the viable options for large scale electrical energy storage due to faster H_2 and Br_2 reaction kinetics, low cost, and high round-trip efficiency. In order to improve the performance of the H_2-Br_2 fuel cell, carbon electrodes with high active surface area are needed. A preliminary study was conducted to synthesize and characterize the carbon nanotube based electrodes. Based on the results obtained from SEM, TEM, and EDX analysis, multi-wall carbon nanotube growth is confirmed. Also, the results from the multi-step chronoamperometry study have shown that the active areas of carbon nanotube electrodes are significantly higher than a plain carbon electrode.