Design of a miniature flow cell for in situ x-ray imaging of redox flow batteries

作者：Jervis Rhodri; Brown Leon D; Neville Tobias P; Millichamp Jason; Finegan Donal P; Heenan Thomas M M; Brett Dan J L; Shearing Paul R^*

来源：Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics , 2016, 49(43): 434002.

DOI：10.1088/0022-3727/49/43/434002

• x-ray imaging
• computed tomography
• redox flow battery
• energy storage
• in situ cell

Flow batteries represent a possible grid-scale energy storage solution, having many advantages such as scalability, separation of power and energy capabilities, and simple operation. However, they can suffer from degradation during operation and the characteristics of the felt electrodes are little understood in terms of wetting, compression and pressure drops. Presented here is the design of a miniature flow cell that allows the use of x-ray computed tomography (CT) to study carbon felt materials in situ and operando, in both lab-based and synchrotron CT. Through application of the bespoke cell it is possible to observe felt fibres, electrolyte and pore phases and therefore enables non-destructive characterisation of an array of microstructural parameters during the operation of flow batteries. Furthermore, we expect this design can be readily adapted to the study of other electrochemical systems.

• 出版日期2016-11-2