Towards Low Resistance Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries

© The Author(s) 2017. Published by ECS. All rights reserved. Nonaqueous redox flow batteries (NAqRFBs) are a promising, but nascent, concept for cost-effective grid-scale energy storage. While most studies report new active molecules and proof-of-concept prototypes, few discuss cell design. The dire...

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Main Authors: Milshtein, Jarrod D, Barton, John L, Carney, Thomas J, Kowalski, Jeffrey A, Darling, Robert M, Brushett, Fikile R
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Electrochemical Society 2021
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/134706
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author Milshtein, Jarrod D
Barton, John L
Carney, Thomas J
Kowalski, Jeffrey A
Darling, Robert M
Brushett, Fikile R
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Milshtein, Jarrod D
Barton, John L
Carney, Thomas J
Kowalski, Jeffrey A
Darling, Robert M
Brushett, Fikile R
author_sort Milshtein, Jarrod D
collection MIT
description © The Author(s) 2017. Published by ECS. All rights reserved. Nonaqueous redox flow batteries (NAqRFBs) are a promising, but nascent, concept for cost-effective grid-scale energy storage. While most studies report new active molecules and proof-of-concept prototypes, few discuss cell design. The direct translation of aqueous RFB design principles to nonaqueous systems is hampered by a lack of materials-specific knowledge, especially concerning the increased viscosities and decreased conductivities associated with nonaqueous electrolytes. To guide NAqRFB reactor design, recent techno-economic analyses have established an area specific resistance (ASR) target of <5 Ω cm2. Here, we employ a state-of-the-art vanadium flow cell architecture, modified for compatibility with nonaqueous electrolytes, and a model ferrocene-based redox couple to investigate the feasibility of achieving this target ASR. We identify and minimize sources of resistive loss for various active species concentrations, electrolyte compositions, flow rates, separators, and electrode thicknesses via polarization and impedance spectroscopy, culminating in the demonstration of a cell ASR of ca. 1.7 Ω cm2. Further, we validate performance scalability using dynamically similar cells with a ten-fold difference in active areas. This work demonstrates that, with appropriate cell engineering, low resistance nonaqueous reactors can be realized, providing promise for the cost-competitiveness of future NAqRFBs.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1347062023-09-28T19:49:24Z Towards Low Resistance Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries Milshtein, Jarrod D Barton, John L Carney, Thomas J Kowalski, Jeffrey A Darling, Robert M Brushett, Fikile R Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering © The Author(s) 2017. Published by ECS. All rights reserved. Nonaqueous redox flow batteries (NAqRFBs) are a promising, but nascent, concept for cost-effective grid-scale energy storage. While most studies report new active molecules and proof-of-concept prototypes, few discuss cell design. The direct translation of aqueous RFB design principles to nonaqueous systems is hampered by a lack of materials-specific knowledge, especially concerning the increased viscosities and decreased conductivities associated with nonaqueous electrolytes. To guide NAqRFB reactor design, recent techno-economic analyses have established an area specific resistance (ASR) target of <5 Ω cm2. Here, we employ a state-of-the-art vanadium flow cell architecture, modified for compatibility with nonaqueous electrolytes, and a model ferrocene-based redox couple to investigate the feasibility of achieving this target ASR. We identify and minimize sources of resistive loss for various active species concentrations, electrolyte compositions, flow rates, separators, and electrode thicknesses via polarization and impedance spectroscopy, culminating in the demonstration of a cell ASR of ca. 1.7 Ω cm2. Further, we validate performance scalability using dynamically similar cells with a ten-fold difference in active areas. This work demonstrates that, with appropriate cell engineering, low resistance nonaqueous reactors can be realized, providing promise for the cost-competitiveness of future NAqRFBs. 2021-10-27T20:08:46Z 2021-10-27T20:08:46Z 2017 2019-08-15T13:38:26Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/134706 en 10.1149/2.0741712JES Journal of The Electrochemical Society Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf The Electrochemical Society Electrochemical Society (ECS)
spellingShingle Milshtein, Jarrod D
Barton, John L
Carney, Thomas J
Kowalski, Jeffrey A
Darling, Robert M
Brushett, Fikile R
Towards Low Resistance Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries
title Towards Low Resistance Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries
title_full Towards Low Resistance Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries
title_fullStr Towards Low Resistance Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries
title_full_unstemmed Towards Low Resistance Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries
title_short Towards Low Resistance Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries
title_sort towards low resistance nonaqueous redox flow batteries
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/134706
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