Conversion of spent tea leaves into superior electrode for VRB application

• Main Author: Chue, Leima Lee Zhen
• Other Authors: Tuti Mariana Lim
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Engineering::Environmental engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/78743
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This project examines the feasibility of synthesizing activated carbon (AC) from spent tea leaves as a potential electrode material vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) application. The physical activation reagent used is steam while ammonia is used to functionalize the activated carbon. The as-synthesized ACs are characterized using CHNS, BET, FTIR, XRD, XPS, Raman, FE-SEM and TEM while their electrochemical properties with respect to VRB application are evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) studies. The results indicate that the synthesized ACs derived from spent tea leaves has shown better electrochemical conductivity compared to commonly used graphite electrode and hence can be considered as promising potential electrode for VRB application due to its high performance and low cost resources.