Battery stores energy in nontoxic, noncorrosive aqueous solutions
Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a new flow battery that stores energy in organic molecules dissolved in neutral pH water. This new chemistry allows for a non-toxic, non-corrosive battery with an exceptionally long lifetime and offers the potential to significantly decrease the costs of production.
The research, published in ACS Energy Letters, was led by Michael Aziz, the Gene and Tracy Sykes Professor of Materials and Energy Technologies and Roy Gordon, the Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science.
Flow batteries store energy in liquid solutions in external tanks — the bigger the tanks, the more energy they store. Flow batteries are a promising storage solution for renewable, intermittent energy like wind and solar but today’s flow batteries often suffer degraded energy storage capacity after many charge-discharge cycles, requiring periodic maintenance of the electrolyte to restore the capacity.
By modifying the structures of molecules used in the positive and negative electrolyte solutions, and making them water soluble, the Harvard team was able to engineer a battery that loses only one percent of its capacity per 1000 cycles.
“Lithium ion batteries don’t even survive 1000 complete charge/discharge cycles,” said Aziz.
“Because we were able to dissolve the electrolytes in neutral water, this is a long-lasting battery that you could put in your basement,” said Gordon. “If it spilled on the floor, it wouldn’t eat the concrete and since the medium is noncorrosive, you can use cheaper materials to build the components of the batteries, like the tanks and pumps.”
This reduction of cost is important. The Department of Energy (DOE) has set a goal of building a battery that can store energy for less than $100 per kilowatt-hour, which would make stored wind and solar energy competitive with energy produced from traditional power plants.
“If you can get anywhere near this cost target then you change the world,” said Aziz. “It becomes cost effective to put batteries in so many places. This research puts us one step closer to reaching that target.”
“If you can get anywhere near this cost target then you change the world,” said Aziz. “It becomes cost effective to put batteries in so many places. This research puts us one step closer to reaching that target.”
“This work on aqueous soluble organic electrolytes is of high significance in pointing the way towards future batteries with vastly improved cycle life and considerably lower cost,” said Imre Gyuk, Director of Energy Storage Research at the Office of Electricity of the DOE. “I expect that efficient, long duration flow batteries will become standard as part of the infrastructure of the electric grid.”
The key to designing the battery was to first figure out why previous molecules were degrading so quickly in neutral solutions, said Eugene Beh, a postdoctoral fellow and first author of the paper. By first identifying how the molecule viologen in the negative electrolyte was decomposing, Beh was able to modify its molecular structure to make it more resilient.
Next, the team turned to ferrocene, a molecule well known for its electrochemical properties, for the positive electrolyte.
“Ferrocene is great for storing charge but is completely insoluble in water,” said Beh. “It has been used in other batteries with organic solvents, which are flammable and expensive.”
But by functionalizing ferrocene molecules the same way as the viologen, the team was able to turn an insoluble molecule into a highly soluble one that could be cycled stably.
“Aqueous soluble ferrocenes represent a whole new class of molecules for flow batteries,” said Aziz.
The neutral pH should be especially helpful in lowering the cost of the ion-selective membrane that separates the two sides of the battery. Most flow batteries today use expensive polymers that can withstand the aggressive chemistry inside the battery. They can account for up to one-third of the total cost of the device. With essentially salt water on both sides of the membrane, expensive polymers can be replaced by cheap hydrocarbons.
Learn more: Long-lasting flow battery could run for more than a decade with minimum upkeep
[osd_subscribe categories=’flow-battery’ placeholder=’Email Address’ button_text=’Subscribe Now for any new posts on the topic “FLOW BATTERY”‘]
Receive an email update when we add a new FLOW BATTERY article.
The Latest on: Flow battery
[google_news title=”” keyword=”flow battery” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Flow battery
- Councillors defer battery storage scheme decision for more substantial fire safety informationon April 18, 2024 at 10:00 am
Chairman Drew Millar says he wants the information so ‘we have a clear conscience when making a decision about the Highland community we represent.’ ...
- The world’s largest battery that defies the laws of the universe: 100 MWh, a project that concerns the U.S.on April 18, 2024 at 6:00 am
This is the battery that defies the laws of the universe: it has 100 MWh of power and a project that worries the United States ...
- Batteries Newson April 17, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The team use water to replace organic electrolytes -- which enable the flow of ... Road to Better Performing Batteries Using Less Critical Raw Materials Feb. 20, 2024 — Researchers are ...
- Invinity attracting fresh investment into flow batterieson April 17, 2024 at 6:12 am
Flow battery company Invinity Energy Systems has made “significant progress” in attracting investment from multiple strategic partners, it said. This includes ...
- Lilium begins producing battery packs to power its eVTOL jeton April 16, 2024 at 4:31 am
German advanced air mobility developer Lilium has begun producing battery packs designed to power its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet on its first piloted flight, scheduled for the ...
- Nissan's new 'game-changer' solid-state battery plant takes shapeon April 16, 2024 at 2:16 am
Nissan is quickly constructing its first plant to start pilot production of breakthrough solid-state batteries next March, stepping closer to a technology the Japanese carmaker calls a “game changer” ...
- Why are there so many different kinds of batteries?on April 13, 2024 at 9:00 am
Inside the battery, the electric current is accompanied by the flow of ions through a liquid, the electrolyte. The passage of each electron in the current is accompanied by the transport of one ...
- Mercedes to bolster PV system at manufacturing facility with SolidFlow batteryon April 12, 2024 at 8:30 am
CMBlu Energy AG said it has received an order from Mercedes Benz to provide its SolidFlow battery for the carmaker’s plant in Rastatt, Germany. The 11 MWh installation, planned for the second quarter ...
- A 1,300-mile Solid-state Battery Could Become A Realityon April 11, 2024 at 1:00 pm
Talent New Energy, a relative newcomer to the EV battery industry, has promised a solid-state battery that could outdo the rest of the EV industry.
via Bing News