A novel and highly effective treatment based on modified Hummers method was firstly used to improve the electrochemical activity of graphite felt as the positive electrode in all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). The graphite felt was treated by the modified Hummers method and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical performance of the prepared electrode was evaluated through cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Results show that graphite felt treated by modified Hummers method exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity and reaction rate to vanadium redox couples. In our research, the hydrogen electrode and H-2 replaced the graphite felt and V2+/V3+ couple in the negative side in the VRFB performance test. The coulombic, voltage, and energy efficiencies of the VRFB with the as-prepared electrodes at 50 mA cm(-2) are 95.0%, 81.3%, and 77.2%, respectively. These values are much higher than those of the cell-assembled graphite felt electrodes that were conventionally and thermally treated. The graphite felt treated by the modified Hummers method carries more hydrophilic groups, such as-OH, on its defects, which is advantageous in facilitating the redox reaction of vanadium ions, thereby improving the operation efficiency of the vanadium redox flow battery. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.