ABSTRACT

Basic Information

Abstract Number:	1640 - 3
Author Name:	Hubert H Girault - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne
Session Title:	Nanoelectrochemistry of Energy Conversion and Storage
Event Type:	Symposia
Event Title:	Nanoelectrocatalysis for Indirect Electrolysis

Presider Name:	Michael V Mirkin	Co-Author:	Veronique Amstutz, Pekka Peljo, Heron Vrubel
Affiliation:	CUNY, Queens College	Affiliation:	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne, EPFL

Date:	Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Start Time:	09:10 AM (Slot #3)
Location:	260

Abstract Content

Recently, we have shown that it was possible to couple a redox flow battery with two external circuits to carry out indirect electrolysis. The gist of this approach is to store “junk electricity” in a redox flow battery when its prize from the grid or from renewable sources is very low and to use this stored redox energy to carry out indirect electrolysis. For example, with a vanadium redox flow battery, Vanadium(II) can be used to produce hydrogen whilst Vanadium(V) can be used to oxidise SO2 to generate protons and sulfuric acid. To perform these reactions in external reactors, it is important to use nanoparticle catalysts. We shall discuss here nanoelectrocatalysis with nanoparticles supported on silica or other ceramics. Two redox half-reactions take on the nanoparticle, e.g. hydrogen evolution and V(II) oxidation, and we shall discuss both the thermodynamic and the kinetic aspects. More generally, we shall discuss the role of nanoparticles in the field of redox flow batteries and possible applications for energy storage.