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Development of efficient aqueous organic redox flow batteries using ion-sieving sulfonated polymer membranes
,
Charlotte Breakwell,
Rui Tan ,
Caterina Bezzu ,
Elwin Hunter-Sellars,
Daryl R. Williams,
Nigel P. Brandon,
Peter A. A. Klusener ,
Anthony R. Kucernak ,
Kim E. Jelfs ,
Neil B. McKeown ,
Qilei Song
Nature Communications, Volume: 13, Issue: 1
Swansea University Authors:
Rui Tan , Caterina Bezzu
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DOI (Published version): 10.1038/s41467-022-30943-y
Abstract
Redox flow batteries using aqueous organic-based electrolytes are promising candidates for developing cost-effective grid-scale energy storage devices. However, a significant drawback of these batteries is the cross-mixing of active species through the membrane, which causes battery performance degr...
| Published in: | Nature Communications |
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| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |
| Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2022
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67806 |
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| Abstract: |
Redox flow batteries using aqueous organic-based electrolytes are promising candidates for developing cost-effective grid-scale energy storage devices. However, a significant drawback of these batteries is the cross-mixing of active species through the membrane, which causes battery performance degradation. To overcome this issue, here we report size-selective ion-exchange membranes prepared by sulfonation of a spirobifluorene-based microporous polymer and demonstrate their efficient ion sieving functions in flow batteries. The spirobifluorene unit allows control over the degree of sulfonation to optimize the transport of cations, whilst the microporous structure inhibits the crossover of organic molecules via molecular sieving. Furthermore, the enhanced membrane selectivity mitigates the crossover-induced capacity decay whilst maintaining good ionic conductivity for aqueous electrolyte solution at pH 9, where the redox-active organic molecules show long-term stability. We also prove the boosting effect of the membranes on the energy efficiency and peak power density of the aqueous redox flow battery, which shows stable operation for about 120 h (i.e., 2100 charge-discharge cycles at 100 mA cm−2) in a laboratory-scale cell. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
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This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 851272, ERC-StG-PE8-NanoMMES) and (grant agreement No 758370, CoMMaD). This work was also funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, UK, EP/M01486X/1, EP/V047078/1, EP/P024807/1, EP/S032622/1), and EPSRC Center for Advanced Materials for Integrated Energy Systems (CAM-IES, EP/P007767/1) and Energy SuperStore (UK Energy Storage Research Hub). C.Y. acknowledges a full PhD scholarship funded by the China Scholarships Council/University of Edinburgh. A.W. acknowledges a full PhD scholarship funded by the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College. R.T. acknowledges a full PhD scholarship funded by the China Scholarship Council. C.Y. and A.W. acknowledge the Royal Society of Chemistry Researcher Mobility Grant. C.B. acknowledges the EPSRC ICASE PhD studentship funded by EPSRC and Shell. K.E.J. acknowledges the Royal Society University Research Fellowship. The authors acknowledge Juraj Bella for help with NMR measurements, and Meltem Haktaniyan for help with GPC measurements. |
| Issue: |
1 |