Ion-specific phenomena limit energy recovery in forward-biased bipolar membranes

Bui, Justin C.; Lees, Eric W.; Liu, Andrew K.; Toh, Wei Lun; Stovall, T. Nathan; Goyal, Priyamvada; Galang, Francisco U.; Surendranath, Yogesh; Bell, Alexis T.; Weber, Adam Z.

doi:10.1038/s44286-024-00154-x

Ion-specific phenomena limit energy recovery in forward-biased bipolar membranes

Journal Article · Thu Dec 19 23:00:00 EST 2024 · Nature Chemical Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s44286-024-00154-x· OSTI ID:2565274

^[1]; Lees, Eric W. ^[2]; ^[1]; ^[3]; Stovall, T. Nathan ^[4]; ^[2]; ^[1]; Surendranath, Yogesh ^[3]; ^[1]; ^[2]

University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

The ability for bipolar membranes (BPMs) to interconvert voltage and pH makes them attractive materials for use in energy conversion and storage. Reverse-biased BPMs, which use electrical voltage to dissociate water into acid and base, have become increasingly well studied. However, forward-biased BPMs (FB-BPMs), in which voltage is extracted from pH gradients through recombination, require further study. Here physics-based modeling elucidates how the complex coupling of transport and kinetics dictates the performance of FB-BPMs in electrochemical devices. Simulations reveal that the open-circuit potential of FB-BPMs is dictated by the balance of ion recombination and crossover, where recombination of buffering counter-ions attenuates the open-circuit potential. Counter-ion mass-transport limitations and uptake of ionic impurities limit achievable current densities by reducing the applied pH gradient or the available fixed-charge sites that mediate recombination. Further, the model highlights the importance of selective ion management in mitigating energy losses and provides insight into the rational material design of FB-BPMs for energy applications.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); US Army Research Office (ARO); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; SC0024713

OSTI ID:: 2565274

Journal Information:: Nature Chemical Engineering, Journal Name: Nature Chemical Engineering Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 2; ISSN 2948-1198

Publisher:: SpringerCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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