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Improving the stability and discharge capacity of nanostructured Fe2O3/C anodes for iron-air batteries and investigation of 1-octhanethiol as an electrolyte additive

Improving the stability and discharge capacity of nanostructured Fe2O3/C anodes for iron-air batteries and investigation of 1-octhanethiol as an electrolyte additive
Improving the stability and discharge capacity of nanostructured Fe2O3/C anodes for iron-air batteries and investigation of 1-octhanethiol as an electrolyte additive

Iron-based aqueous batteries, such as the iron-air and nickel-iron chemistries, are limited by passivation and hydrogen evolution at the iron anode, especially at high current densities. In this paper, strategies to minimise these issues are investigated with iron electrodes composed of 20–50 nm Fe2O3 nanoparticles produced by the Adams and Oxalate methods. The strategies include ball milling the Fe2O3 with Ketjenblack carbon to improve conductivity, addition of bismuth sulphide to the electrode and 1-octanethiol to the electrolyte, and addition of potassium carbonate as a pore-forming agent. The ratio of Fe/C in the electrode and the 1-octanethiol additive have the greatest impact on the electrode capacity. The Fe/C ratio should be below 2.0 to ensure conductivity of the discharged electrode. The presence of 1-octanethiol can protect the electrodes from passivation during discharge; at very high 2C discharge rates adding 1-octanethiol increases the electrode specific capacity from 17 to 171 mAh/gFe. The synthesis method and use of pore former do not have a significant effect on the capacity. In all electrodes, the Fe2O3 nanoparticles are in the same crystalline phase after cycling and do not undergo significant crystal growth and passivation, demonstrating the stability and suitability of these materials for iron-based batteries.

FeO, Iron electrodes, Iron-air batteries
0013-4686
625-634
McKerracher, R.D.
f5f9f0e7-a256-4714-b752-e3bb8dab03fc
Figueredo-Rodriguez, H.A.
e49f1681-45b4-4828-a217-9a507bb68791
Alegre, C.
b57abb63-73ed-42e7-8510-08d73917a9c4
Aricò, A.S.
aab629f8-1ee4-4e27-93a3-b6e4222d9b8d
Baglio, V.
5d62998b-2e86-4f02-b0be-f544f0ae6f02
Ponce de León, C.
508a312e-75ff-4bcb-9151-dacc424d755c
McKerracher, R.D.
f5f9f0e7-a256-4714-b752-e3bb8dab03fc
Figueredo-Rodriguez, H.A.
e49f1681-45b4-4828-a217-9a507bb68791
Alegre, C.
b57abb63-73ed-42e7-8510-08d73917a9c4
Aricò, A.S.
aab629f8-1ee4-4e27-93a3-b6e4222d9b8d
Baglio, V.
5d62998b-2e86-4f02-b0be-f544f0ae6f02
Ponce de León, C.
508a312e-75ff-4bcb-9151-dacc424d755c

McKerracher, R.D., Figueredo-Rodriguez, H.A., Alegre, C., Aricò, A.S., Baglio, V. and Ponce de León, C. (2019) Improving the stability and discharge capacity of nanostructured Fe2O3/C anodes for iron-air batteries and investigation of 1-octhanethiol as an electrolyte additive. Electrochimica Acta, 318, 625-634. (doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2019.06.043).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Iron-based aqueous batteries, such as the iron-air and nickel-iron chemistries, are limited by passivation and hydrogen evolution at the iron anode, especially at high current densities. In this paper, strategies to minimise these issues are investigated with iron electrodes composed of 20–50 nm Fe2O3 nanoparticles produced by the Adams and Oxalate methods. The strategies include ball milling the Fe2O3 with Ketjenblack carbon to improve conductivity, addition of bismuth sulphide to the electrode and 1-octanethiol to the electrolyte, and addition of potassium carbonate as a pore-forming agent. The ratio of Fe/C in the electrode and the 1-octanethiol additive have the greatest impact on the electrode capacity. The Fe/C ratio should be below 2.0 to ensure conductivity of the discharged electrode. The presence of 1-octanethiol can protect the electrodes from passivation during discharge; at very high 2C discharge rates adding 1-octanethiol increases the electrode specific capacity from 17 to 171 mAh/gFe. The synthesis method and use of pore former do not have a significant effect on the capacity. In all electrodes, the Fe2O3 nanoparticles are in the same crystalline phase after cycling and do not undergo significant crystal growth and passivation, demonstrating the stability and suitability of these materials for iron-based batteries.

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IronElectrode_finalsubmission_Electrochimica Acta_last version - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 9 June 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 14 June 2019
Published date: 20 September 2019
Keywords: FeO, Iron electrodes, Iron-air batteries

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 432443
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/432443
ISSN: 0013-4686
PURE UUID: 2a634f6c-dbc5-45b6-a3d0-1af039e80bac
ORCID for C. Ponce de León: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1907-5913

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Date deposited: 15 Jul 2019 16:30
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 04:06

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Contributors

Author: H.A. Figueredo-Rodriguez
Author: C. Alegre
Author: A.S. Aricò
Author: V. Baglio

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