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Tungto Cobalt Heteropoly Cell Essay

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Abstract Recently, we reported a completely new all tungsto-cobalt heteropoly acid redox flow battery (RFB) with a high coulombic efficiency and promising prospect. Because of the relatively large size and high negative charge, the tungsto-cobalt heteropoly acid anion is difficult to cross Nafion membrane, thus necessiating the need to employ thinner ion exchange membrane. In this study, the effects of the thickness of the membranes on the battery performance were investigated. Three types of Nafion membranes with different thicknesses, namely, 50 μm (N212), 25 μm (N211), and 17 μm (home-made N-17), were investigated in all tungsto-cobalt heteropoly acid RFBs. The ion permeability and area specific resistances of the membranes and the …show more content…

Specifically, an aqueous redox flow battery with a tungsten-cobalt heteropoly acid (H6[CoW12O40]) as the electrolyte for both the anode and cathode has been demonstrated in our previous work [15]. The working principle of all-H6[CoW12O40] RFBs is shown in Scheme 1. In aqueous solution, H6[CoW12O40] molecule dissociates to H+ and [CoW12O40]6- as a strong acid. During the battery charging and discharging process, the cobalt in [CoW12O40]6- is oxidized or reduced reversibly at positive electrode, whereas tungsten is reduced or oxidized at negative electrode. H+ moves through the IEM as the charge carrier. The electrochemical reactions of the RFB are as follows:
At anode:
CoⅡW12O406- ↔ CoⅢW12O405- + e- φ0= 1.103V vs. SHE (1)
At cathode:
CoW12O406- + 2e- + 2H+ ↔ H2CoW12O406- φ0= -0.074V vs. SHE (2)
H2CoW12O406- + 2e- + 2H+ ↔ H4CoW12O406- φ0= -0.191V vs. SHE (3)

Scheme 1. The working principle of an all-H6[CoW12O40] RFBs. The [CoW12O40]n- is drawn in ball-and-stick notation. (Charging: Anode: WVI→WVI/V, Cathode: CoII→CoIII, H+ transfers from anode to cathode; Discharge: Anode: WVI/V→WVI, Cathode: CoIII→CoII, H+ transfers from cathode to anode.).

[CoW12O40]6- anion has relatively large size and high negative charge, making it difficult to cross Nafion membrane because of Donnan’s

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