Abstract
Short-term transients, including those related to wind and solar sources, present challenges to the electrical grid. Stationary energy storage systems that can operate for many cycles, at high power, with high round-trip energy efficiency, and at low cost are required. Existing energy storage technologies cannot satisfy these requirements. Here we show that crystalline nanoparticles of copper hexacyanoferrate, which has an ultra-low strain open framework structure, can be operated as a battery electrode in inexpensive aqueous electrolytes. After 40,000 deep discharge cycles at a 17 C rate, 83% of the original capacity of copper hexacyanoferrate is retained. Even at a very high cycling rate of 83 C, two thirds of its maximum discharge capacity is observed. At modest current densities, round-trip energy efficiencies of 99% can be achieved. The low-cost, scalable, room-temperature co-precipitation synthesis and excellent electrode performance of copper hexacyanoferrate make it attractive for large-scale energy storage systems.
Highlights
Short-term transients, including those related to wind and solar sources, present challenges to the electrical grid
To ensure consistent reaction conditions, CuHCF was synthesized by a co-precipitation method, during which precursors are combined in constant ratios by simultaneous dropwise addition to a common liquor
In addition to its excellent capacity retention at high current densities, we have found that CuHCF has a much greater cycle life than any previously demonstrated battery electrode
Summary
Short-term transients, including those related to wind and solar sources, present challenges to the electrical grid. Stationary energy storage systems that can operate for many cycles, at high power, with high round-trip energy efficiency, and at low cost are required. Large-scale stationary energy storage is necessary to address the challenges of frequency regulation and short-term transients that currently cost the utility industry nearly US$100 billion annually[5]. It will make possible the large-scale deployment of highly variable solar and wind power sources and their integration with the power grid[3,4,5,6]. Current well-developed battery technology cannot meet the durability, high-power operation, round-trip energy efficiency, and/or cost requirements for widespread use in the grid. Species of the appropriate size can be reversibly inserted into the A sites
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