Development of flow batteries

What is a flow battery?

Flow batteries have received increasing attention because of their ability to accelerate the utilization of renewable energy by resolving issues of discontinuity, instability and uncontrollability. Currently, widely studied flow batteries include traditional vanadium and zinc-based flow batteries as well as novel flow battery systems.

Why is flow battery research important?

Overall, the research of flow batteries should focus on improvements in power and energy density along with cost reductions. In addition, because the design and development of flow battery stacks are vital for industrialization, the structural design and optimization of key materials and stacks of flow batteries are also important.

Are flow-battery technologies a future of energy storage?

Flow-battery technologies open a new age of large-scale electrical energy-storage systems. This Review highlights the latest innovative materials and their technical feasibility for next-generation flow batteries.

When were flow batteries invented?

Flow batteries were first proposed in the early 1880s and have since undergone many developments 11. Figure 1a illustrates the general configuration of conventional RFBs and basic working principles. RFBs work in a distinctly different fashion to Li-ion batteries.

Which flow battery systems have been commercialised?

Of all of the flow battery systems that have been researched and developed in the last 30 or so years, the only technologies that have come close to full-scale commercialisation are the iron-chromium, all-vanadium, zinc-bromine and sodium-polysulphide systems. Their applications and current status is evaluated in brief in this section.

What is a lithium based flow battery?

Other lithium-based flow batteries typically use a catholyte based on organometallic complexes, halogen elements or organic redox-active materials with a lithium-metal anode, and most studies have focused on the development of these catholyte materials.