Electrode Decoupled Redox Flow Batteries
Electrode Decoupled Redox Flow Batteries
Our group has developed electrode-decoupled redox flow batteries (ED-RFBs) with long-term separation of different cationic species present at the two electrodes. To enable this chemistry, we have invented both a highly perm-selective separator and a new, inexpensive redox chemistry (both patented) for grid-scale energy storage applications. Our chemistry, based on earth-abundant elements, significantly lowers the system cost as estimated through rigorous techno-economic analysis. Under accelerator-type funding received from Washington University, ourgroup has scaled-up the polymeric separator using roll-to-roll manufacturing approaches. This technology has the ability to disrupt the extended-duration energy storage market and has attracted a lot of attention in this space.
Featured Papers:
“Engineering Block Co-polymer Anion Exchange Membrane Domains for Highly Efficient Electrode-Decoupled Redox Flow batteries”, Z. Wang, S. Sankarasubramanian, J. Willey, H. Feng, H. Xu, & V. Ramani, Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 5, pp. 3606-3616, (2021).
“Methanesulfonic acid-based electrode-decoupled vanadium–cerium redox flow battery exhibits significantly improved capacity and cycle life”, S. Sankarasubramanian, Y. Zhang, & V. Ramani, Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 3(9), pp. 2417-2425, (2019).
Liquid-Liquid Fuel Cells
Liquid-Liquid Fuel Cells
Building on our bipolar interface development, we have worked on various liquid-liquid fuel cell combinations including direct borohydride-peroxide cells, direct methanol-peroxide cells, and direct ethanol-peroxide cells. We have employed traditional chemical engineering approaches (reactant-transport engineering) to enhance the performance of such devices and currently can achieve a remarkable power density of close to 1W/cm2 at about 1.2-1.4 V.
Featured Papers:
“High performance alkaline direct borohydride fuel cell using bipolar interfaces and noble metal-free Ni-based anodes”, G. Braesch, Z. Wang, S. Sankarasubramanian, A. Oshchepkov, A. Bonnefont, E. Savinova, V. Ramani, & M. Chatenet, J. Mater. Chem. A, 8, pp. 20543-20552, (2020).
“Reactant-transport engineering approach to high-power direct borohydride fuel cells”, Z. Wang, S. Sankarasubramanian, & V. Ramani, Cell Reports Physical Science, 1(7), 100084, (2020).
Electrolyzers
Electrolyzers
We have successfully built and tested lab-scale electrolyzers for the electrolysis of pure water (both acidic and alkaline membrane cells), the electrolysis of saltwater (seawater) with either selective oxygen evolution or selective chlorine evolution, and the electrolysis of regolith brines for fuel and oxygen production in Martian environments for future space applications.
Featured Papers:
“Fuel and oxygen harvesting from Martian regolithic brine”, P. Gayen, S. Sankarasubramanian, & V. Ramani, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(50), pp. 31685-31689, (2020).
“Selective seawater splitting using pyrochlore electrocatalyst”, P. Gayen, S. Saha, & V. Ramani, ACS Applied Energy Materials, 3(4), pp. 3978-3983, (2020).