Lithium Ferrocyanide Catholyte for High-Capacity Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries

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Abstract

The design of electrolyte materials with both tunable redox potential and high solubility is critical for boosting the energy density of aqueous redox flow batteries (ARFBs) for stationary energy storage. A redox-active material lithium ferrocyanide (Li4[Fe(CN)6]) is designed. Li4[Fe(CN)6] has an improved solubility of 2.3 M compared to other ferrocyanide salts due to week intermolecular interactions. The constructed Li4[Fe(CN)6]-based ARFB system demonstrates high average capacity retention (nearly 100%) over 1365 hours and an unprecedented volumetric capacities up to 62.2 Ah/L in H2O. A zinc-ferricyanide (Zn/[Fe(CN)6]3-) ARFB, using a Nafion 117 membrane, achieves an unprecedented catholyte capacity of 61.4 Ah/L at neutral pH, surpassing the performance of most known ARFBs. In addition, the prepared ARFB shows a low electrolyte cost of $24 per kWh. This work provides a promising option for developing sustainable energy storage technology with high efficiency and a low cost.

Content

Supplementary material

Lithium Ferrocyanide Catholyte for High-Capacity Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries
Mainly including the preparation of Li3[Fe(CN)6] and Li4[Fe(CN)6], the physicochemical properties of [Fe(CN)6]4-/3-based catholyte, based on Li4[Fe(CN)6 ] Half-cell ARFB study of catholyte and cost estimation of complete ARFB using Li4[Fe(CN)6] catholyte and Zn anolyte and performance comparison with other reported ferricyanide-based flow batteries, etc.