Iron Electrolytes and Stacks for Flow Batteries

Stationary energy storage technologies, notably chemical batteries, continue to play a key role in the development of clean and resilient electrical grids of all scales. Usually based on lithium or sodium-ion intercalation chemistries, these increasingly important components of our energy infrastructure are often highly proprietary, irreparable, flammable, and challenging to recycle. This project has two main objectives related to advancing open-source battery technology that seeks to address these concerns. First, development of a water-based, iron-salt chemistry for hybrid flow batteries, using a Water-in-Salt Electrolyte (WiSE) approach. Second, the demonstration of a scaled-up flow battery stack and system that is of sufficient size to power its own centrifugal pumps and a server. The iron chemistry will be explored using a previously designed flow battery development kit, and the scaled-up demonstrator will build off of an existing plate-and-frame stack design and a zinc-iodide chemistry, all currently in development by the Flow Battery Research Collective.