NEREFLOW · Novel electrode materials for high performing aqueous organic redox flow batteries.
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2021-06-01 → 2023-05-31
- EU contribution
- €184,708
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Novel electrode materials for high performing aqueous organic redox flow batteries.
In the European Green Deal (2019), a set of policies aiming at ensuring the European Union becomes climate neutral by 2050 was presented. The energy sector and more specifically the electricity sector are strongly targeted. In order to help the EU reach its decarbonisation targets, the deployment and the integration of renewable energy sources into the grid along with the development of innovative and flexible storage solutions are of paramount importance. In this context, redox flow batteries (RFBs) offer a promising alternative for the storage of large amounts of energy. RFBs present several advantages such as the decoupling of power and energy scaling, the scalability, the long operational lifetime and the safety features. Aqueous organic redox flow batteries (AORFBs) are based on water-soluble organic redox molecules that can be used at a wider range of pH and whose production cost is stable. Currently, only a handful of companies are developing such aqueous organic redox flow batteries worldwide, including Kemiwatt in France. Kemiwatt developed its first 20 kW prototype in 2016 and a 30 kW/30 kWh (1 h) containerized and autonomous system in 2017. In order to pursue their technological development, several bottlenecks need to be overcome. For instance, a better understanding of the interactions between the electrode and the electrolyte is part of the challenges identified by Kemiwatt and more generally by the AORFBs community. Most of the research is currently focusing on the development of novel and competitive electrolytes in terms of solubility and stability, but little has been done on electrode materials for AORFBs applications. Electrodes have an influence on the overall electrochemical reaction losses due to charge transfer, ohmic, and mass transport. Focusing on electrode surface engineering may thus lead to significant performance benefits.The main research question of this fellowship was: how to improve the performance of AORFBs in terms of energy and power densities and stability via electrode surface engineering? The objectives were threefold: to develop electrodes modified by electrodeposition, thermal activation and electrooxidation, to study the performance of these electrodes for AORFBs application, to implement and test the corresponding electrodes in pilot-scale reactors.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The aim of this 2-year fellowship is to develop novel and robust electrodes to improve the performance of Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries (AORFBs) for renewable energy storage applications. The research will be carried out at Kemiwatt (Rennes, France), who have been developing AORFBs since 2014, in collaboration with the Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes (ISCR), University of Rennes 1 (France) as secondment. Carbon felts, which are the most commonly used electrodes for AORFBs, will be modified in order to enhance the interactions between the electrode and the electrolytes to further improve the performance of the batteries. Two routes of modifications will be explored: i) pulse-electrodeposition of metals on carbon felt electrodes using a flow-through system and ii) electrografting of organic modifiers via the aryl diazonium salts method. By optimising the properties of the electrodes in terms of specific surface area, wettability, local pH and charge transfer, positive impacts on the power and energy densities and efficiencies of the battery are expected. Therefore, the objectives are threefold: i) to develop novel carbon felt electrodes modified by electrodeposition and electrografting, ii) to study the performance and durability of the modified electrodes for AORFBs application, via the optimisation of the electrode/electrolyte interactions, iii) to upscale (from 25 cm² up to 2100 cm²) the electrode surface modification process and to implement and test the corresponding electrodes in pilot-scale reactors. By developing novel modified carbon felts, this fellowship aims at improving the performance and stability of AORFBs. This will help Kemiwatt pursue their technological development and achieve their goals by 2023. It will in turn provide valuable insight to the scientific community on an aspect that is currently being overlooked and that could yet significant help improve the technology and the EU to reach its decarbonisation targets by 2050.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- KEMIWATT · RennesCoordinatorFrance
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union