ORGANIC NON-AQUEOUS REDOX FLOW BATTERY
Efficient storage of electricity remains one of the greatest challenges faced by the scientific community in the quest for clean energy. Redox-Flow-Batteries (RFBs), in which the energy is stored in liquid electrolyte solutions that flow through a battery of electrochemical cells during charge and discharge, is one of the promising technologies. Organic RFBs are a promising alternative to the expensive metal base batteries. Yet, these suffer from low efficiency and robustness, small open circuit potential (OCV), and cross-contamination. The goal of this project is to develop symmetric RFBs in the electrolyte are stable and photoactive heterocyclic carbenium with large OCV
H-CELL AS RFB MODEL
We study the electrochemical stability of our electrolytes by bulk electrolysis charge/ discharge cycling using a three-electrode cell. The custom-made H-cell with a porous glass frit to separate both compartments served as model redox flow cell setup.
RFB PROTOTYPE
We use a non-aqueous media which provides large open circuit potential (our electrolyte has a OCV > 2V). The symmetrical nature of our electrolyte results in no cross-contamination, long cyclability, and the use of cheap porous membranes. Using our RFB prototype we study the viability of our electrolyte ions for NAORFB.
Work in progress