Porous membranes in secondary battery technologies

Ion conducting membranes for aqueous flow battery systems

Flow batteries, aqueous flow batteries in particular, are the most promising candidates for stationary energy storage to realize the wide utilization of renewable energy sources. To meet the requirement of large-scale energy storage, there has been a growing interest in aqueous flow batteries, especially in novel redox couples and flow-type systems. However, the development of aqueous flow battery technologies is at an early stage and their performance can be further improved. As a key component of a flow battery, the membrane has a significant effect on battery performance. Currently, the membranes used in aqueous flow battery technologies are very limited. In this feature article, we first cover the application of porous membranes in vanadium flow battery technology, and then the membranes in most recently reported aqueous flow battery systems. Meanwhile, we hope that this feature article will inspire more efforts to design and prepare membranes with outstanding performance and stability, and then accelerate the development of flow batteries for large scale energy storage applications.

Hydrophilic Channel Alignment of Perfluoronated Sulfonic-Acid Ionomers for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

It is known that uniaxially drawn perfluoronated sulfonic-acid ionomers (PFSAs) show diffusion anisotropy because of the aligned water channels along the deformation direction. We apply the uniaxially stretched membranes to vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) to suppress the permeation of active species, vanadium ions through the transverse directions. The aligned water channels render much lower vanadium permeability, resulting in higher Coulombic efficiency (>98%) and longer self-discharge time (>250 h). Similar to vanadium ions, proton conduction through the membranes also decreases as the stretching ratio increases, but the thinned membranes show the enhanced voltage and energy efficiencies over the range of current density, 50-100 mA/cm². Hydrophilic channel alignment of PFSAs is also beneficial for long-term cycling of VRFBs in terms of capacity retention and cell performances. This simple pretreatment of membranes offers an effective and facile way to overcome high vanadium permeability of PFSAs for VRFBs.

Porphyrin-Based Symmetric Redox-Flow Batteries towards Cold-Climate Energy Storage

Electrochemical energy storage with redox-flow batteries (RFBs) under subzero temperature is of great significance for the use of renewable energy in cold regions. However, RFBs are generally used above 10 °C. Herein we present non-aqueous organic RFBs based on 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (H₂ TPP) as a bipolar redox-active material (anode: [H₂ TPP]^2- /H₂ TPP, cathode: H₂ TPP/[H₂ TPP]²⁺ ) and a Y-zeolite-poly(vinylidene fluoride) (Y-PVDF) ion-selective membrane with high ionic conductivity as a separator. The constructed RFBs exhibit a high volumetric capacity of 8.72 Ah L^-1 with a high voltage of 2.83 V and excellent cycling stability (capacity retention exceeding 99.98 % per cycle) in the temperature range between 20 and -40 °C. Our study highlights principles for the design of RFBs that operate at low temperatures, thus offering a promising approach to electrochemical energy storage under cold-climate conditions.

The next generation vanadium flow batteries with high power density - a perspective

Vanadium flow batteries (VFBs) have received increasing attention due to their attractive features for large-scale energy storage applications. However, the relatively high cost and severe polarization of VFB energy storage systems at high current densities restrict their utilization in practical industrial applications. Optimization of the performance of key VFB materials, including electrodes, electrolytes and membranes, can realize simultaneous minimization of polarization and capacity decay. The power density and energy density of VFBs are thus simultaneously enhanced. Moreover, relevant theoretical mechanisms and foundations based on virtual investigations of VFB models and simulations can guide these optimizations. The improved power density and energy density can reduce the cost of VFB energy storage systems, accelerating their successful industrialization. In this perspective, modification methods to optimize the performance of key VFB materials and investigations of models and simulations of VFBs will be discussed. Therefore, the available ideas and approaches will be provided to direct further improvements in the power density and energy density of VFB systems.

Molecular engineering of organic electroactive materials for redox flow batteries

With high scalability and independent control over energy and power, redox flow batteries (RFBs) stand out as an important large-scale energy storage system.

Novel Ceramic-Grafted Separator with Highly Thermal Stability for Safe Lithium-Ion Batteries

The separator is a critical component of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), which not only allows ionic transport while it prevents electrical contact between electrodes but also plays a key role for thermal safety performance of LIBs. However, commercial separators for LIBs are typically microporous polyolefin membranes that pose challenges for battery safety, due to shrinking and melting at elevated temperature. Here, we demonstrate a strategy to improve the thermal stability and electrolyte affinity of polyethylene (PE) separators. By simply grafting the vinylsilane coupling reagent on the surface of the PE separator by electron beam irradiation method and subsequent hydrolysis reaction into the Al³⁺ solution, an ultrathin Al₂O₃ layer is grafted on the surface of the porous polymer microframework without sacrificing the porous structure and increasing the thickness. The as-synthesized Al₂O₃ ceramic-grafted separator (Al₂O₃-CGS) shows almost no shrinkage at 150 °C and decreases the contact angle of the conventional electrolyte compared with the bare PE separator. Notably, the full cells with the Al₂O₃-CGSs exhibit better cycling performance and rate capability and also provide stable open circuit voltage even at 170 °C, indicating its promising application in LIBs with high safety and energy density.

Highly Flexible and Conductive Cellulose-Mediated PEDOT:PSS/MWCNT Composite Films for Supercapacitor Electrodes

Recent improvements in flexible electronics have increased the need to develop flexible and lightweight power sources. However, current flexible electrodes are limited by low capacitance, poor mechanical properties, and lack of cycling stability. In this article, we describe an ionic liquid-processed supramolecular assembly of cellulose and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene for the formation of a flexible and conductive cellulose/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) PEDOT:poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) composite matrix. On this base, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were incorporated into the matrix to fabricate an MWCNT-reinforced cellulose/PEDOT:PSS film (MCPP), which exhibited favorable flexibility and conductivity. The MCPP-based electrode displayed comprehensively excellent electrochemical properties, such as a low resistance of 0.45 Ω, a high specific capacitance of 485 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1, and good cycling stability, with a capacity retention of 95% after 2000 cycles at 2 A g^-1. An MCPP-based symmetric solid-state supercapacitor with Ni foam as the current collector and PVA/KOH gel as the electrolyte exhibited a specific capacitance of 380 F g^-1 at 0.25 A g^-1 and achieved a maximum energy density of 13.2 Wh kg^-1 (0.25 A g^-1) with a power density of 0.126 kW kg^-1 or an energy density of 4.86 Wh kg^-1 at 10 A g^-1, corresponding to a high power density of 4.99 kW kg^-1. Another kind of MCPP-based solid-state supercapacitor without the Ni foam showed excellent flexibility and a high volumetric capacitance of 50.4 F cm^-3 at 0.05 A cm^-3. Both the electrodes and the supercapacitors were environmentally stable and could be operated under remarkable deformation or high temperature without damage to their structural integrity or a significant decrease in capacitive performance. Overall, this work provides a strategy for the fabrication of flexible and conductive energy-storage films with ionic liquid-processed cellulose as a medium.