Abstract
The need for large scale energy storage has become a priority to integrate renewable energy sources into the electricity grid. Redox flow batteries are considered the best option to store electricity from medium to large scale applications. However, the current high cost of redox flow batteries impedes the wide spread adoption of this technology. The membrane is a critical component of redox flow batteries as it determines the performance as well as the economic viability of the batteries. The membrane acts as a separator to prevent cross-mixing of the positive and negative electrolytes, while still allowing the transport of ions to complete the circuit during the passage of current. An ideal membrane should have high ionic conductivity, low water intake and excellent chemical and thermal stability as well as good ionic exchange capacity. Developing a low cost, chemically stable membrane for redox flow cell batteries has been a major focus for many groups around the world in recent years. This paper reviews the research work on membranes for redox flow batteries, in particular for the all-vanadium redox flow battery which has received the most attention.
Highlights
Concern over environmental degradation and climate change associated with fossil fuel based electricity generation has prompted most countries to restructure their electricity generation and distribution in particular, towards increasing electricity generation from renewable energy sources.Renewable energy is intermittent in nature and the electricity generated from this source is not dispatchable, leading to unpredictable matching between supply and demand
Of all the redox flow batteries developed to date, only the all vanadium redox flow battery developed at the University of New South Wales [3,4] has received the most attention due to its high energy efficiency of over 80% in large installations and a long cycle life
The present paper focuses on all aspects of ion exchange membrane including their classification, structure, methods of preparation and their application in redox flow batteries, for the Generation 1 (G1) and Generation 2 (G2) vanadium redox flow battery (VRB)
Summary
Concern over environmental degradation and climate change associated with fossil fuel based electricity generation has prompted most countries to restructure their electricity generation and distribution in particular, towards increasing electricity generation from renewable energy sources. Researchers at the Pacific Northwest Laboratories demonstrated a significant increase in energy density and a stable temperature range by utilizing a mixed H2SO4/ HCl supporting electrolyte that can optimize the solubilities of each of the vanadium oxidation states, allowing up to 2.7 M Vanadium solutions to remain stable over the temperature range of 0–50 °C [11]. Both electrolyte improvements will enable installations in extreme climates such as Northern China, Canada and Scandinavian countries that may not be suitable for the G1 VRB electrolyte. Future direction with respect to the development of generation membrane materials is included in this review
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