30 μm thin hexamethyl-p-terphenyl poly(benzimidazolium) anion exchange membrane for vanadium redox flow batteries

30 μm thin hexamethyl-p-terphenyl poly(benzimidazolium) anion exchange membrane for vanadium redox flow batteries

We present the first results of an anion exchange ionomer membrane, hexamethyl-p-terphenyl poly(benzimidazolium) (HMT-PMBI), in a vanadium redox flow battery. Anion exchange membranes exhibit superior vanadium crossover suppression compared to proton exchange membranes due to the Gibbs–Donnan effect...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Brian Shanahan, Thomas Böhm, Benjamin Britton, Steven Holdcroft, Roland Zengerle, Severin Vierrath, Simon Thiele, Matthias Breitwieser
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2019-05-01
Series:Electrochemistry Communications
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388248119300803
Description
Summary:We present the first results of an anion exchange ionomer membrane, hexamethyl-p-terphenyl poly(benzimidazolium) (HMT-PMBI), in a vanadium redox flow battery. Anion exchange membranes exhibit superior vanadium crossover suppression compared to proton exchange membranes due to the Gibbs–Donnan effect. HMT-PMBI was benchmarked against a similarly thin Nafion XL membrane which allowed us to compare differences based solely on chemical properties of the ionomer materials. We report cycling data of 45 cycles at a current density of 150 mA/cm2 with excellent coulombic efficiency of >99.4%, energy efficiency of 80.6–74.2% and a low ohmic resistance of 0.219–0.255 Ω cm2. In addition, a three times lower self-discharge rate is obtained for the HMT-PMBI membrane compared to Nafion XL. HMT-PMBI is therefore a potential alternative for PFSA based ionomers in VRFB applications. Keywords: Anion exchange membrane, Vanadium redox flow battery, Energy storage, HMT-PMBI, Coulombic efficiency
ISSN:1388-2481

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