A polyoxometalate redox flow battery: functionality and upscale

Abstract

Abstract While redox flow batteries carry a large potential for electricity storage, specifically for regenerative energies, the current technology-prone system—the all-vanadium redox flow battery—exhibits two major disadvantages: low energy and low power densities. Polyoxometalates have the potential to mitigate both effects. In this publication, the operation of a polyoxometalate redox flow battery was demonstrated for the polyoxoanions [SiW12O40]4– (SiW12) in the anolyte and [PV14O42]9– (PV14) in the catholyte. Emphasis was laid on comparing to which extent an upscale from 25 to 1400 cm2 membrane area may impede efficiency and operational parameters. Results demonstrated that the operation of the large cell for close to 3 months did not diminish operation and the stability of polyoxometalates was unaltered.