Schematic illustration.

Major Contributions

1.Demonstration of a Novel Electrode Material with Superior Performance
Copper-doped cobalt oxide (Cu-Co₃O₄) nanowires were successfully synthesized and uniformly loaded onto heat-treated graphite felt (HGF), resulting in a positive electrode material for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) that exhibits significantly enhanced electrochemical activity. This electrode achieved an energy efficiency of 76.04% at 200 mA/cm², surpassing pristine graphite felt, heat-treated graphite felt, and undoped Co₃O₄-modified electrodes.

2.Elucidation of Synergistic Effects and Mechanisms
The improved performance is attributed to the synergistic effects between copper and cobalt, the creation of abundant oxygen vacancies, enhanced hydrophilicity, increased surface area, and higher Co³⁺ concentration in the Cu-Co₃O₄ structure. These features collectively accelerate electron transfer kinetics and provide more active sites for redox reactions, as confirmed by comprehensive structural and surface analyses.

3.Validation of Long-Term Stability and Practical Applicability
The Cu-Co₃O₄-HGF electrode demonstrated excellent cycling stability, maintaining high efficiency with negligible decay after 500 charge-discharge cycles in strongly acidic electrolyte conditions. This confirms the electrode’s durability and practical potential for next-generation large-scale energy storage systems.

主要貢獻

1.創新高效電極材料的開發與驗證
成功合成並均勻負載銅摻雜氧化鈷（Cu-Co₃O₄）奈米線於熱處理石墨氈（HGF）上，作為釩液流電池（VRFBs）正極材料，展現顯著提升的電化學活性。在200 mA/cm²電流密度下，能量效率達76.04%，優於未修飾石墨氈、熱處理石墨氈及未摻雜Co₃O₄修飾電極。

2.闡明協同效應與性能提升機制
性能提升歸因於銅與鈷之間的協同效應、豐富的氧空位、增強的親水性、較高的比表面積及摻雜後Co³⁺濃度的提升。這些特性共同加速電子傳輸動力學，並提供更多氧化還原反應活性位點，經多種結構與表面分析方法驗證。

3.長期穩定性與實用性的驗證
Cu-Co₃O₄-HGF電極展現優異的循環穩定性，在強酸性電解液中經500次充放電循環後效率幾乎無衰減，證實其耐久性與未來大規模儲能系統應用的實用潛力。