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Title: An Inexpensive Aqueous Flow Battery for Large-Scale Electrical Energy Storage Based on Water-Soluble Organic Redox Couples

Abstract

We introduce a novel Organic Redox Flow Battery (ORBAT), for Meeting the demanding requirements of cost, eco-friendliness, and durability for large-scale energy storage. ORBAT employs two different water-soluble organic redox couples on the positive and negative side of a flow battery. Redox couples such as quinones are particularly attractive for this application. No precious metal catalyst is needed because of the fast proton-coupled electron transfer processes. Furthermore, in acid media, the quinones exhibit good chemical stability. These properties render quinone-based redox couples very attractive for high-efficiency metal-free rechargeable batteries. We demonstrate the rechargeability of ORBAT with anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid or anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonic acid on the negative side, and 1,2-dihydrobenzoquinone- 3,5-disulfonic acid on the positive side. The ORBAT cell uses a membrane-electrode assembly configuration similar to that used in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Such a battery can be charged and discharged multiple times at high faradaic efficiency without any noticeable degradation of performance. We show that solubility and mass transport properties of the reactants and products are paramount to achieving high current densities and high efficiency. The ORBAT configuration presents a unique opportunity for developing an inexpensive and sustainable metal-free rechargeable battery for large-scale electrical energy storage. (C) The Author(s) 2014. Published bymore » ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.orgilicenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. All rights reserved.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
OSTI Identifier:
1211503
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AR0000337
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 161; Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Yang, B, Hoober-Burkhardt, L, Wang, F, Prakash, GKS, and Narayanan, SR. An Inexpensive Aqueous Flow Battery for Large-Scale Electrical Energy Storage Based on Water-Soluble Organic Redox Couples. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1149/2.1001409jes.
Yang, B, Hoober-Burkhardt, L, Wang, F, Prakash, GKS, & Narayanan, SR. An Inexpensive Aqueous Flow Battery for Large-Scale Electrical Energy Storage Based on Water-Soluble Organic Redox Couples. United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1001409jes
Yang, B, Hoober-Burkhardt, L, Wang, F, Prakash, GKS, and Narayanan, SR. 2014. "An Inexpensive Aqueous Flow Battery for Large-Scale Electrical Energy Storage Based on Water-Soluble Organic Redox Couples". United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1001409jes.
@article{osti_1211503,
title = {An Inexpensive Aqueous Flow Battery for Large-Scale Electrical Energy Storage Based on Water-Soluble Organic Redox Couples},
author = {Yang, B and Hoober-Burkhardt, L and Wang, F and Prakash, GKS and Narayanan, SR},
abstractNote = {We introduce a novel Organic Redox Flow Battery (ORBAT), for Meeting the demanding requirements of cost, eco-friendliness, and durability for large-scale energy storage. ORBAT employs two different water-soluble organic redox couples on the positive and negative side of a flow battery. Redox couples such as quinones are particularly attractive for this application. No precious metal catalyst is needed because of the fast proton-coupled electron transfer processes. Furthermore, in acid media, the quinones exhibit good chemical stability. These properties render quinone-based redox couples very attractive for high-efficiency metal-free rechargeable batteries. We demonstrate the rechargeability of ORBAT with anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid or anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonic acid on the negative side, and 1,2-dihydrobenzoquinone- 3,5-disulfonic acid on the positive side. The ORBAT cell uses a membrane-electrode assembly configuration similar to that used in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Such a battery can be charged and discharged multiple times at high faradaic efficiency without any noticeable degradation of performance. We show that solubility and mass transport properties of the reactants and products are paramount to achieving high current densities and high efficiency. The ORBAT configuration presents a unique opportunity for developing an inexpensive and sustainable metal-free rechargeable battery for large-scale electrical energy storage. (C) The Author(s) 2014. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.orgilicenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. All rights reserved.},
doi = {10.1149/2.1001409jes},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1211503}, journal = {Journal of the Electrochemical Society},
issn = {0013-4651},
number = 9,
volume = 161,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed May 21 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Wed May 21 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}