Conversion of spent coffee bean into superior electrode for VRB application

• Main Author: Lee, Wen Por
• Other Authors: Tuti Mariana Lim
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/75802
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study reports the feasibility of in-house synthesized chemically-activated carbon from spent coffee grounds as a potential electrode material to replace the TF6 bipolar graphite plate commercially used in VRB application. The activation reagent used is orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4), which was reacted with spend coffee grounds with impregnation ratios of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4. FESEM and TEM have shown visible disorder in the surface morphology and cyclic voltammetry and electrical spectral impedance analysis indicates there is an increase in electrochemical reversibility and activity towards vanadium redox reactions on the negative electrolyte. Notably, an optimum impregnation ratio of 1 yields the most positive VRB performance which is likely due to presence of highest oxygen functional groups observed. It can be concluded that spent coffee bean grounds can be used to produce a low-cost and efficient electrode for Vanadium Redox Battery systems.