Performance Evaluation of a Hydrogen-Vanadium Reversible Fuel Cell

Hydrogen-vanadium reversible fuel cells were tested using a Pt/C hydrogen electrode, carbon vanadium electrode and interdigitated flow fields at both electrodes. Vanadium electrolyte flow rate was varied to study its effect on mass transport performance. Two types of vanadium electrodes were explored, a single layer of high surface area carbon nanotube (CNT) electrode and three layers of nitric acid-treated carbon paper. Finally, four types of Nafion membranes were examined to determine the effect of membrane type and thickness on fuel cell charge and discharge performance. Higher performance was observed with higher vanadium flow rate, thinner membranes and a CNT vanadium electrode. Peak power density of greater than 540 mW/cm 2 was obtained using a NR212 membrane and CNT vanadium electrode.