A hydrogen-vanadium rebalance cell based on ABPBI membrane operating at low hydrogen concentration to restore the capacity of VRFB

Abstract

A hydrogen‑vanadium rebalance cell (HVRC) is developed to address the capacity degradation and hydrogen explosion risks in long-term operations of all‑vanadium liquid flow battery (VRFB). Different operating conditions was evaluated in this study to investigate the cell's performance focusing on low hydrogen concentrations (4 %). The HVRC achieved a stable rebalance process with a meager hydrogen stoichiometry ratio of 1.15 at 300 mA cm−2. The use of PFSA membranes was found to be problematic due to the contradictory issues of unstable battery operation without humidification and severe vanadium ion loss with humidification. Therefore, ABPBI membrane was used instead of PFSA membrane to reduce vanadium ion crossover and Pt catalyst corrosion. HVRC based on ABPBI membrane completed a 100 h stability test at 70 mA cm−2 with a stoichiometric ratio of hydrogen of 1.23. The vanadium ion crossover of ABPBI-HVRC was less than 1/6 that of PFSA-HVRC, and no significant platinum dissolution occurred during 100 h operation without humidification. The reliability of the ABPBI-HVRC in intermittent operation mode has also been verified. These results illustrate the HVRC offers a promising measure to eliminate safety issues and restore capacity in VRFB systems. Additionally, incorporating the ABPBI membrane in the HVRC holds greater promise for enhancing its stability.