Materials and Systems for Organic Redox Flow Batteries: Status and Challenges

Journal Article · Mon Aug 14 04:00:00 EDT 2017 · ACS Energy Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.7b00650· OSTI ID:1393756

Wei, Xiaoliang ^[1]; Pan, Wenxiao ^[2]; Duan, Wentao ^[1]; Hollas, Aaron ^[3]; Yang, Zheng ^[1]; Li, Bin ^[3]; Nie, Zimin ^[3]; Liu, Jun ^[1]; Reed, David ^[3]; Wang, Wei ^[3]; Sprenkle, Vincent ^[3]

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1. Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States; Energy &, Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99354, United States
2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1513 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
3. Energy &, Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99354, United States

Redox flow batteries are propitious stationary energy storage technologies with exceptional scalability and flexibility to improve the stability, efficiency and sustainability of our power grid. The redox-active materials are the central component to RFBs for achieving high energy density and good cyclability. Traditional inorganic-based materials encounter critical technical and economic limitations such as low solubility, inferior electrochemical activity, and high cost. Redox-active organic materials (ROMs) are promising alternative “green” candidates to push the boundaries of energy storage because of the significant advantages of molecular diversity, structural tailorability, and natural abundance. Here the recent development of a variety of ROM families and associated battery designs in both aqueous and nonaqueous electrolytes are reviewed. Moreover, the critical challenges and potential research opportunities for developing practically relevant organic flow batteries are discussed.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22); USDOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1393756
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-128015; KC0208010
• Journal Information: ACS Energy Letters, Journal Name: ACS Energy Letters Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 2; ISSN 2380-8195
• Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English