"wine-dark sea" in an organic flow battery: Storing negative charge in 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole radicals leads to improved cyclability

Wentao Duan, Jinhua Huang, Jeffrey A. Kowalski, Ilya A. Shkrob, M. Vijayakumar, Eric Walter, Baofei Pan, Zheng Yang, Jarrod D. Milshtein, Bin Li, Chen Liao, Zhengcheng Zhang, Wei Wang, Jun Liu, Jeffery S. Moore, Fikile R. Brushett, Lu Zhang, Xiaoliang Wei

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Redox-Active organic materials (ROMs) have shown great promise for redox flow battery applications but generally encounter limited cycling efficiency and stability at relevant redox material concentrations in nonaqueous systems. Here we report a new heterocyclic organic anolyte molecule, 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole, that has high solubility, a low redox potential, and fast electrochemical kinetics. Coupling it with a benchmark catholyte ROM, the nonaqueous organic flow battery demonstrated significant improvement in cyclable redox material concentrations and cell efficiencies compared to the state-of-The-Art nonaqueous systems. Especially, this system produced exceeding cyclability with relatively stable efficiencies and capacities at high ROM concentrations (>0.5 M), which is ascribed to the highly delocalized charge densities in the radical anions of 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole, leading to good chemical stability. This material development represents significant progress toward promising next-generation energy storage.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1156-1161
Number of pages6
JournalACS Energy Letters
Volume2
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 12 2017

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemistry (miscellaneous)
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Materials Chemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of '"wine-dark sea" in an organic flow battery: Storing negative charge in 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole radicals leads to improved cyclability'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this