2012 AIChE Annual Meeting
(774b) Microporous Separators On Fe/V Redox Flow Battery: A Valuable Opportunity for Cost Reduction
Authors
Microporous Separators on
Fe/V Redox Flow Battery: A Valuable Opportunity for Cost Reduction
Wei, Xiaoliang; Luo, Qingtao; Li, Bin; Nie, Zimin; Shao, Yuyan; Chen, Feng;
Chen, Baowei; Xia, Gordon; Li, Liyu; Yang, Z Gary; Wang, Wei
Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory, 902
Battelle Boulevard, PO Box 999, Richland, WA 99354
Redox flow
batteries are considered as one of the most promising medium-to-large scale energy
storage technologies and have attracted much attention both academically and
industrially.[1],[2] A number of redox chemistries
have been proposed, and significant progress has been achieved by today.[3],[4]
However, broad market penetration of redox flow batteries is still hindered by their
intrinsic limitations such as high cost and low durability of components, narrow
operational temperature range, limited solubility of active species, and/or low
electrochemical activity.[5]
The recently invented iron-vanadium (Fe/V) redox flow battery employing Fe2+/3+
? V2+/3+ redox couples have shown to be a promising option for
stationary energy storage.[6],[7] The Fe/V flow battery
demonstrated stable cycling performance with a nearly 100% utilization ratio
over a broad temperature range of 0-50oC.
The
positive charged species, Fe3+, is a relatively weak oxidant. Therefore,
hydrocarbon-based ion exchange membranes and/or separators are possible options
for use in Fe/V flow battery system. This contribution investigated the cycling
performance of a variety of polyethylene microporous separators on Fe/V flow
cell. Among them, some separators exhibited energy efficiency of around 70% at
temperatures ranging from 5-50oC and at current densities up to
80mA/cm2. Because these separators are very inexpensive, their use
significantly reduces the capital cost of Fe/V flow battery, delivering great
potential for developing a low-cost energy storage system.
Figure 1 Flow cell cycling efficiencies (CE, VE, and
EE) of microporous separators A, B, C, D, and E.
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[2] J. Rugolo, and M. J. Aziz Energy Environ. Sci. 2012, DOI:
10.1039/C2EE02542F.
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S. A. Hajimolana, F. S. Mjalli, and M. Saleem J. Electrochem. Soc. 2011, 158, R55-R79.
[4] L. Li, S. Kim, W. Wang, M. Vijayakumar, Z. Nie, B.
Chen, J. Zhang, G. Xia, J. Hu, G. Graff, J. Liu, and Z. Yang Adv. Energy
Mater. 2011, 1, 394?400.
[5] S. Eckroad, Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries: An In-Depth Analysis. EPRI, Palo Alto, CA: 2007.
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[6] W.
Wang, S. Kim, B. Chen, Z. Nie, J. Zhang, G. Xia, L. Li, and Z. Yang Energy
Environ. Sci. 2011, 4, 4068-4073.
[7] W. Wang, Z. Nie, B. Chen, F. Chen, Q. Luo, X. Wei, G. Xia, M.
Skyllas-Kazacos, L. Li, and Z. Yang Adv. Energy Mater. 2012, 2, 487?493.
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