PNNL

Abstract

A sulfonated poly(sulfone) (S-Radel®) membrane with high proton conductivity and low vanadium ion diffusion showed high initial performance in a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) but suffered damage during charge/discharge cycling. The S-Radel membrane had different degradation behaviors in flow cell cycling and ex-situ vanadium ion immersion tests. The S-Radel membrane immersed in V5+ solution cracked into small pieces, but in the VRFB cell, the membrane underwent internal delamination preferentially on the side of the membrane that faced the positive electrode. A vanadium-rich interface was observed near the membrane surface that experienced delamination and Raman spectroscopic analysis of the surfaces of the membrane indicated a slightly depressed 1026 cm-1 band corresponding to the sulfonate SO2 stretch for the degraded surface. Even though the S-Radel membrane underwent severe mechanical damage during the flow cell cycling, significant chemical degradation was not obvious from the spectroscopic analyses. For the VRFB containing an S-Radel membrane, an increase in membrane resistance caused an abnormal voltage depression during the discharge cycle. The reversible increase in membrane resistance and severe mechanical degradation of the membrane during cycling may be attributed repeated formation and dissolution of particles inside the membrane. The mechanical stresses imposed by the particles coupled with a small amount of chemical degradation of the polymer by V5+, are likely degradation mechanisms of the S-Radel membrane in VRFBs under high state-of-charge conditions.