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A Swiss scientist is trying to develop a hybrid flow battery and lithium-ion battery by incorporating solid storage materials into the flow battery reservoir. He is currently identifying stable materials for the storage tanks over a 20-year operating period.
A Swiss scientist says redox flow batteries offer an alternative to lithium-ion batteries as they do not use rare earths or toxic materials. However, they face challenges due to their low energy density and limited market share.
David Robber, a researcher at the Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) in Switzerland, is trying to solve this problem by enlarging the electrochemical cells of batteries so that they charge and discharge faster, while developing larger reservoirs to achieve greater storage capacity.
“Flow batteries have an energy density about ten times lower than those made with solid storage materials,” he explains, noting that the more storage material that can be dissolved in the electrolyte, the higher the energy density of a flow battery. "However, high concentrations thicken the solution, and it takes much more energy to pump it through the cell."
Robber wants to develop a hybrid between a flow battery and a lithium-ion battery by embedding solid storage materials in the flow battery reservoir.
“If the dissolved material and the solid storage material match precisely, they can transfer energy to each other,” he explains. “This allows the scalability of flow batteries to be combined with the high energy density of batteries with solid storage materials.”
Reber acknowledged that he will first have to identify suitable materials that, ideally, will work stably for the batteries over a 20-year operating period. He also mentioned the chelate as a possible candidate for a dissolved storage material and described it as a multi-armed organic molecule that “wraps” a metal ion. “Depending on how many arms the organic molecule, the ligand, has, the redox potential changes,” he explained.
Reber says he doesnt have to start from scratch for the project, as during his postdoctoral period at the University of Colorado he investigated a chelate-based redox flow battery.
At the end of his research project in Switzerland, which is expected to last four years, Reber wants to have a battery that works well with additional solid storage. “If this approach works, the potential applications are very diverse,” he said. “Some pumps and pipes would be enough.” |
