Higher Voltage Redox Flow Batteries with Hybrid Acid and Base Electrolytes

Mohsen Torabi Dizaji,1

Wenzhen Li 1,2,Email

1 Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, 618 Bissell Road, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States

2 US Department of Energy Ames Laboratory, 2408 Pammel Drive, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States

Abstract

An organic redox flow battery with hybrid acid and base electrolytes using a single cation exchange membrane has been successfully developed to demonstrate higher operation voltage and higher energy density. This hybrid electrolyte flow battery concept was able to increase the voltage span of a previously tested quinone flow battery by 300 mV and raise the energy density by four times to reach 27.4 Wh/L. This technique has been successfully implemented in another flow battery system utilizing metal ions, demonstrating the applicability of this technique to other types of redox flow batteries. Furthermore, the suggested flow batteries with hybrid electrolytes has been proposed to be economically advantageous over the system using a cation-exchange membrane and an anion-exchange membrane simultaneously.

Higher Voltage Redox Flow Batteries with Hybrid Acid and Base Electrolytes