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Electrodes, which offer sites for mass transfer and redox reactions, play a crucial role in determining the energy efficiencies and power densities of redox flow batteries. This review focuses on various approaches to enhancing electrode performance, particularly the methods of surface etching and catalyst deposition, as well as some other advanced strategies for regulating electrode surface properties. These approaches aim to increase active sites and enhance kinetics for the redox reactions, which are crucial for elevating power density and electrolyte utilization, eventually determining the performance of the flow battery. Highlighting the need for interdisciplinary research, this mini‐review suggests that future advancements in electrode design will significantly impact the commercial viability and adoption of redox flow batteries in sustainable energy storage solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biredox deep‐eutectic solvents (DESs)‐based electrolytes have shown unique features in non‐aqueous asymmetrical redox flow batteries (RFBs) that can potentially mitigate the crossover issue. However, strong intermolecular interactions among the electrolyte constituents in DESs bring in practical challenges such as limited mass transfer rates, slow redox kinetics, and degraded cyclability. Here, by using a novel biredox‐type DES based on 4‐methoxy‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐1‐piperidinyloxy (4‐MeO‐TEMPO) and 3,3′‐dimethylazobenzene (3,3′‐Azo) as a model electrolyte system, the intermolecular interaction involving in the biredox DESs is unlocked by first‐principles calculations, and their influence on the electrochemical performance of biredox DESs couples is systematically investigated in comprehensive consideration of the solvents and the supporting salts. It demonstrates that employing tetrabutylammonium bis‐trifluoromethane sulfonimidate‐acetonitrile as the supporting electrolyte synergistically weakens the intermolecular interactions within the DESs, thereby significantly promoting the redox kinetics and electrochemical reversibility in non‐aqueous symmetrical RBFs. With such an optimized electrolyte, a prototype symmetrical cell under static mode is capable of delivering a high output voltage of ∼2.15 V, a decent cyclability, and the exceptional rate capability with a current density of 25 mA cm−2. This study provides a simple yet effective way to develop advanced RFBs with dependable electrolyte regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkaline all‐iron flow batteries possess intrinsic safety and low cost, demonstrating great potential for large‐scale and long‐duration energy storage. However, their commercial application is hindered by the issue of capacity decay resulting from the decomposition of iron complexes and ligand crossovers. In this paper, an robust anolyte Fe(TEA‐2S) is reported, which is formed by chelating iron ions with the sulfonate‐enriched ligand (TEA‐2S) in alkaline environment. By skillfully designing the ligands, the binding energy of the iron complexes increases and ligand crossovers are suppressed, making the iron complexes highly stable in the charge–discharge cycles. Alkaline all‐iron flow batteries coupling with Fe(TEA‐2S) and the typical iron‐cyanide catholyte perform a minimal capacity decay rate (0.17% per day and 0.0014% per cycle), maintaining an average coulombic efficiency of close to 99.93% over 2000 cycles along with a high energy efficiency of 83.5% at a current density of 80 mA cm−2. In addition, Fe(TEA‐2S) exhibits high solubility of up to 1.85 м (with a theoretical capacity of up to 49.58 Ah L−1), even at low temperatures as extreme as −30 °C. This work demonstrates a promising pathway toward achieving long‐duration and large‐scale energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A new 1,2,3‐triazole functionalized ferrocene (1,2,3‐TAFc) produced by Cu(I)‐catalyzed click reaction was investigated as positive electrolyte for aqueous organic flow batteries (AOFBs). The molecule is highly soluble in 1 M hydrochloric acid and displays high electrochemical reversibility. 1,2,3‐TAFc demonstrated good stability during cycling with a low capacity decay (0.011%/cyc, 3.0%/day) and high Coulombic efficiency (99.4%) over 280 cycles when tested in a flow battery at low concentration. This low capacity decay was attributed to the instability of ferrocene. These findings indicate that a stable and water‐soluble catholyte for AOFBs can be obtained with structural modifications of 1,2,3‐TAFc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) with high energy densities are essential for efficient and sustainable long‐term energy storage on a grid scale. To advance the development of nonaqueous RFBs with high energy densities, a new organic RFB system employing a molecularly engineered tetrathiafulvalene derivative ((PEG3/PerF)‐TTF) as a high energy density catholyte was developed. A synergistic approach to the molecular design of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) was applied, with the incorporation of polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains, which enhance its solubility in organic carbonate electrolytes, and a perfluoro (PerF) group to increase its redox potential. When paired with a lithium metal anode, the two‐electron‐active (PEG3/PerF)‐TTF catholyte produced a cell voltage of 3.56 V for the first redox process and 3.92 V for the second redox process. In cyclic voltammetry and flow cell tests, the redox chemistry exhibited excellent cycling stability. The Li|(PEG3/PerF)‐TTF batteries, with concentrations of 0.1 M and 0.5 M, demonstrated capacity retention rates of ~94 % (99.87 % per cycle, 97.52 % per day) and 90 % (99.93 % per cycle, 99.16 % per day), and the average Coulombic efficiencies of 99.38 % and 98.35 %, respectively. The flow cell achieved a high power density of 129 mW/cm2. Furthermore, owing to the high redox potential and solubility of (PEG3/PerF)‐TTF, the flow cell attained a high operational energy density of 72 Wh/L (100 Wh/L theoretical). A 0.75 M flow cell exhibited an even higher operational energy density of 96 Wh/L (150 Wh/L theoretical). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the first proof‐of‐concept of a membraneless micro redox flow battery with an automated closed‐loop control. Using micro actuators and micro sensors, charge and discharge is achieved in continuous operation in recirculation. A maximum value of 60 % State of Charge with commercial Vanadium electrolyte, monitored via online spectrometry, is delivered, with a maximum discharge current density of 60 mA/cm2, and a discharge volumetric capacity of 21.5 Ah/L. Next, cycling tests show a decrease in coulombic efficiency of 0.5 % per cycle, and capacity loss. To overcome some drawbacks encountered with Vanadium, an alkaline quinone electrolyte is used instead in the membraneless micro redox flow battery. Using this new electrolyte, sixty continuous cycles are performed showing a decrease in coulombic efficiency of 0.6 % per cycle, and a capacity loss of only 1.2 % per cycle. The performances obtained outshine previous literature results. The highest energy efficiency ever obtained for a membraneless micro redox flow battery is presented here with alkaline quinone having an efficiency of 28.9 %. The cycling of a membraneless micro redox flow battery is successfully performed for the first time. This work also includes performance improvement suggestions for future work, with this landmark opening a promising path towards achieving the metrics of conventional redox flow batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Flow battery is a safe and scalable energy storage technology in effectively utilizing clean power and mitigating carbon emissions from fossil fuel consumption. In the present work, we demonstrate an aqueous colloid flow battery (ACFB) with well-dispersed colloids based on nano-sized Prussian blue (PB) cubes, aiming at expanding the chosen area of various nano redox materials and lowering the cost of chemicals. Taking advantage of the two redox pairs of PB, the developed all-PB cell employing a low-cost dialysis membrane with the synthesized PB on both sides displays an open-circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.74 V. Moreover, when paired with an organic tetra pyridine macrocycle the cell with PB as positive electrolyte exhibits an OCV of 1.33 V and a capacity fade rate of 0.039 %/cycle (0.8 %/day). Redox-active colloids exhibit enduring physicochemical stability, with no evident structural or morphological changes after extensive cycling, highlighting their potential for cost-effective and reliable ACFB energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When considering the frequency stability issues brought on by load shifts in a microgrid (μ G) due to a significant integration of fluctuating renewable energy source-based generators and an inherent low inertia, energy storage units (ESUs) are unavoidable. The ESUs can immediately charge or discharge to make up for any shifts in load in the μ G since they react more quickly. This research investigates how a redox flow battery unit (RFBU) impacts the dynamic responses of a standalone μ G (S μ G) in this respect. As the secondary controller, an optimal intelligent model predictive control (iMPC) approach is presented. The cyclical parthenogenesis algorithm is implemented to improve the tuning parameter ( τ w ) in the iMPC cost function to demonstrate an optimal performance of the recommended control approach. The effectiveness of the iMPC approach is contrasted with that of other well-known control approaches. The simulation findings clearly demonstrate the impact of RFBU integration in the S μ G and the capability of the recommended iMPC approach in terms of improved dynamic responses and their transient characteristics. As a consequence, the peak value of the S μ G dynamic response improves by 70.53%, and the settling time improves by 82.26%. The suggested control approach's sensitivity to the S μ G parametric uncertainties is also justified. The closed-loop stability of the suggested approach is also established. The effectiveness of the proposed iMPC approach and the impact of the RFBU integration are then confirmed by statistical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve net‐zero carbon emissions by introducing enormous amount of renewable energy, it is essential to secure the reserve power to improve the power quality of the grid. On the other hand, improvement of the grid resiliency is also needed in case of emergency such as outage of the grid. The energy storage system can be the solution for both of securing the reserve power and improving grid resiliency. The authors have conducted demonstration project to validate the applicability of Redox Flow (RF) battery for securing the reserve power and improving grid resiliency. The results of the demonstration validated that the RF battery makes it possible to be used as reserve power and earn revenue through energy and ancillary market transactions during normal operations, in addition to providing power to blackout areas or the areas that outages are assumed, as an independent power source, during an emergency such as natural disasters and planned outages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron-chromium redox flow batteries (ICRFBs) have emerged as promising energy storage devices due to their safety, environmental protection, and reliable performance. The carbon cloth (CC), often used in ICRFBs as the electrode, provides a suitable platform for electrochemical processes owing to its high surface area and interconnected porous structure. However, the CC electrodes have issues, such as, insufficient electron transfer performance, which limits their industrial application. Here, we employed silicic acid etching to carve dense nano-porous structures on the surface of CC electrodes based on the favorable design of ICRFBs and the fundamental principles of electrode polarization losses. As a result, we developed a multifunctional carbon cloth electrode with abundant vacancies, notably enhancing the performance of the battery. The fabricated electrode showcased a wealth of defect sites and superior electronic transport properties, offering an extensive and effective reaction area for rapidly flowing electrolytes. With an electrode compression ratio of 40% and the highest current density in ICRFBs so far (140 mA·cm−2), the battery achieved the average energy efficiency of 81.3%, 11.24% enhancement over the previously published work. Furthermore, throughout 100 charge–discharge cycles, the average energy efficiency degradation was negligible (∼ 0.04%), which has the potential to become the most promising candidate for large-scale and long-term electrochemical energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metallic zinc (Zn) presents a compelling alternative to conventional electrochemical energy storage systems due to its environmentally friendly nature, abundant availability, high water compatibility, low toxicity, low electrochemical potential (−0.762 V vs. SHE), and cost-effectiveness. While considerable efforts have been devoted to enhancing the physical and chemical properties of zinc-ion battery materials to improve battery efficiency and longevity, research on multi-physics coupled modeling for a deeper understanding of battery performance remains relatively scarce. In this study, we established a comprehensive two-dimensional model for single-flow zinc–nickel redox batteries to investigate electrode reactions, current-potential behaviors, and concentration distributions, leveraging theories such as Nernst–Planck and Butler–Volmer. Additionally, we explored the distribution of the velocity field using the Brinkman theory in porous media and the Navier–Stokes equations in free-flow channels. The validated model, informed by experimental data, not only provides insights into the performance of the battery, but also offers valuable recommendations for advancing single-flow zinc–nickel battery technology. Our findings offer promising avenues for enhancing the design and performance of not only zinc–nickel flow batteries, but also applicable for other flow battery designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most investigations on flow batteries (FBs) make the assumption of perfectly mixed electrolytes inside the tanks without estimating their likelihood, while specific analyses are missing in the literature. This paper presents a pioneering investigation of the electrolyte flow dynamics inside FB tanks. This study considers the Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) measured at the stack of a 9 kW/27 kWh Vanadium FB with 500 L tanks. Order-of-magnitude estimates of the measured dynamics suggest that differences in densities and viscosities of the active species drive gradients of concentrations with different patterns in the positive and negative tanks and in charge and discharge, affected by current and flow rate, which result in significant deviation from homogeneity, affecting the State of Charge (SoC) of the electrolytes flowed into the stack and thus the FB performance. In particular, stratifications of the inlet electrolytes may appear which are responsible for delays in reaching the outlets, with initial plateau and following step (s) in the SoC at the stack. These events can have a major impact in the performance of industrial FBs with large tanks and suggest that specific tank designs may improve the overall dynamics, calling for further analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a low‐melting organic‐inorganic crystalline ionic liquid compound, N‐butyl pyridinium tetrachlorido ferrate (III) is described. The material can easily be synthesized using a one‐pot approach in an ionic liquid medium. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction confirms that the basic inorganic block is [FeCl4]−, which is counterbalanced by an N‐butyl pyridinium cation. The compound exhibits a melting point of 37.6 °C by differential scanning calorimetry, which is among the lowest values for a pyridinium‐based metal‐containing ionic liquid. The material shows promising electrochemical behavior at room temperature in both aqueous and nonaqueous solvents, and at elevated temperatures in its pure liquid state. Given its appreciable solubility in both water and acetonitrile, the compound can act as a redox‐active species in a supporting electrolyte for redox flow battery applications. These classes of low‐melting ionic solids with long‐range order and interesting electrochemical applications are potential candidates for a range of green energy storage and harvesting systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of a Membraneless Vanadium Micro Redox Flow Battery (MVMRFB) with an automated closed‐loop control, using micro actuators and micro sensors, is presented for the first‐time during electrolyte preconditioning operation in recirculation mode. The progress of preconditioning is tracked with UV‐vis spectroscopy by 3D printed micro flow cuvettes. Influence of flow rate, reactor internal resistance, and presence of side reactions in the preconditioning process are studied. Optimal flow rate ratio between negative and positive electrolytes is determined and significant performance improvements achieved by operating at lower flow rates are obtained. Influence of reactor internal resistance, which is directly related with the maximum power density, is evaluated demonstrating that operating at a high‐power density can be a source of inefficiency due to the presence of side reactions. Finally, presence of side reactions is evaluated through a dual measurement of electrolytes concentrations in both negative and positive side, and it is demonstrated to be a cause for charge imbalance between the two half‐cells. This work lays a solid foundation for the successful implementation of a charge‐discharge cycle in MVMRFBs operating in recirculation mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of symmetrical cells is becoming popular for the search of new electroactive materials in redox flow batteries. Unfortunately, low‐cost battery cyclers, commonly used for electrochemical battery testing, are not compatible with symmetrical cells since they usually cannot apply negative bias voltages needed for symmetrical cells. The insertion of a Ni−Cd battery in the voltage sensing path is a simple and effective methodology to overcome this limitation for certain battery cyclers. Herein, the validity of this useful method is evaluated for other battery cyclers, realizing that the strategy is not universal. A modified methodology is developed for a battery cycler in which the previous method is not valid. The new strategy is based on inserting a Ni‐MH battery in the current path, and enables using a low‐cost Neware CT‐4008T‐5V6A‐S1 cycler for ferro‐ /ferricyanide symmetrical cells demonstrating proper operation for >19 days. This new method possesses advantages, e. g. direct reading of the cell voltage, and disadvantages, e. g. the Ni‐MH battery is charged/discharged during operation, which are discussed. The four battery cyclers evaluated show that, despite neither method is universal, both methods are complementary to each other. Thus, the decision of using either one method or the other must be reached on a case‐by‐case basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viologen‐derivatives are the most widely used redox organic molecules for neutral pH negative electrolyte of redox flow batteries. However, the long‐established toxicity of the herbicide methyl‐viologen raises concern for deployment of viologen‐derivatives at large scale in flow batteries. Herein, we demonstrate the radically different cytotoxicity and toxicology of a series of viologen‐derivatives in in vitro assays using model organisms representative of human and environmental exposure, namely human lung carcinoma epithelial cell line (A549) and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The results show that safe viologen derivatives can be molecularly engineered, representing a promising family of negolyte materials for neutral redox flow batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of energy storage systems (ESS) has become an important area of research due to the need to replace the use of fossil fuels with clean energy. Redox flow batteries (RFBs) provide interesting features, such as the ability to separate the power and battery capacity. This is because the electrolyte tank is located outside the electrochemical cell. Consequently, it is possible to design each battery according to different needs. In this context, zinc–bromine flow batteries (ZBFBs) have shown suitable properties such as raw material availability and low battery cost. To avoid the corrosion and toxicity caused by the free bromine (Br2) generated during the charging process, it is necessary to use bromine complexing agents (BCAs) capable of creating complexes. As an overview, the different BCAs used have been listed to compare their behavior when used in electrolytes in ZBFBs. In addition, the coulombic and energy efficiencies obtained have been compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the coordinated effect of redox flow battery (RFB) and accurate high voltage dc (AHVDC) link on the combined voltage and frequency control of two-area systems under deregulated environment. Each area has three generating companies (GENCOs) and three distribution companies. GENCOs in Area-1 are thermal, realistic dish-Stirling solar thermal system (RDSTS) and solar thermal power plants, and in Area-2 GENCOs are hydro, RDSTS, and geothermal power plants. Appropriate nonlinearity constraints are equipped with both hydro and thermal units. A maiden attempt has been made to employ a cascaded fractional-order PD with filter and PID with filter (CFOPDN-PIDN) as a secondary controller for the considered system. Artificial flora algorithm is used to optimize the controller parameters under various system conditions. The proposed CFOPDN-PIDN controller yields better system dynamic responses than the PIDN controller for the Poolco, bilateral, and contract violation power transactions. The investigations reveal that the parallel operation of the AC/AHVDC links deteriorates the system dynamics having more oscillations and peak deviations compared to individual AC and AHVDC links. The dynamic effect of Phase-Lock-Loop (PLL) is important for the realistic operation of AHVDC link. A novel approach for analyzing the dynamic effect of the AHVDC links considering PLL effects during the coordination with the AC system is presented. By adding the dynamic model of PLL to the parallel AC/AHVDC link, the system's performance is improved. The analysis reflects that the RFB-AHVDC links with PLL dynamics provided better system damping than the RFB-AC tie-line and AC tie-line alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrolytes containing multiple redox couples are promising for improving the energy density of flow batteries. Here, two chelated chromium complexes that are structural isomers are characterized and combined to generate electrolytes containing up to 2 M of active species, corresponding to 53.6 Ah L−1. The mixed isomer approach enables a significantly higher active material content than the individual materials would allow, affording energy dense cells with Coulombic efficiencies of ≥99.6% at 100 mA cm−2 and an open circuit voltage of 1.65 V at 50% state-of-charge. This high concentration, however, comes with a caveat; at a given concentration, an equimolar mixed electrolyte leads to lower voltage efficiency compared to using the individual isomers, while Coulombic efficiency remains constant. Our work demonstrates that exploiting structural isomerism is an efficient approach to improve capacity, but active materials must be selected carefully in mixed systems as differences in operating potentials negatively affect energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the application of CO2 as an energy storage material, a H2 storage system has been proposed based on the interconversion of CO2 and formic acid (or formate). However, energy losses are inevitable in the conversion of electrical energy to H2 as chemical energy (≈70 % electrical efficiency) and H2 to electrical energy (≈40 % electrical efficiency). To overcome these significant energy losses, we developed a system based on the interconversion of CO2 and formate for the direct storage and generation of electricity. In this paper, we report an aqueous redox flow battery system using homogeneous Ir catalysts with CO2‐formate redox pair. The system exhibited a maximum discharge capacity of 10.5 mAh (1.5 Ah L−1), capacity decay of 0.2 % per cycle, and total turnover number of 2550 after 50 cycles. During charging‐discharging, in situ fluorescence X‐ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy based on an online setup indicated that the active species was in a high valence state of IrIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ion-selective membranes based on non-ionic polymers are promising for redox flow batteries due to their superior chemical stability and low cost. In this work, a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) ion-selective membrane is successfully prepared using a solvent-controlled swelling method, where Nafion is used as a channel-forming promoter. The influences of Nafion on the channel formation of the membranes are studied. The results indicate that the addition of Nafion resin can greatly promote the formation of ion-conducting channels in the PVDF matrix. The obtained membranes show well-controlled proton conductivity and proton/vanadium selectivity. A battery test on a vanadium redox flow single cell is successfully performed. The energy efficiency of the cell equipped with the PVDF-based ion-selective membrane reaches 81.7% at a current density of 60 mA cm−2 and possesses excellent cycling stability and suppressed self-discharge after modification with Nafion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micro-grid (μ-grid) has picked up momentum worldwide with the ability to supply cost-effective, clean, and reliable electrical power to the present-day demand. The practical μ-grids are comprised of non-conventional and conventional sources such as wind turbine generators (WTG) and diesel generators (DG). Due to the encouragement of wind power which is exceedingly sporadic in nature and thus the frequency of the μ-grid is exceedingly vulnerable due to the erratic nature of wind speed. Variations in the load demand have also added to the vulnerability of the μ-grid at distinctive moments of time. Consequently, this paper appears to be a novel plan that utilizes artificial neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) within the built frequency regulation of the μ-grid. The proposed research has been employed within the μ-grid, and the application outcomes have taken all possibilities, such as load variety at the distinctive moment of time, modification of the load demand on the μ-grid, and step alteration of the wind input. The achieved results are coordinated with a few of the most recent results, which presents the ANFIS ahead over other strategies. Although there is a probable scope for improvement which subsequently involves the fuel cell (FC) with a hydrogen aqua electrolyzer (HAE) unit, as well as a redox flow battery (RFB), that is introduced one at a time in the μ-grid and the results of μ-grid are calculated for various working conditions to show the impact that the ANFIS technology has upon storage devices with regards to the μ-grid architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current task explores automatic generation control knowledge under old-style circumstances for a triple-arena scheme. Sources in area-1 are thermal-solar thermal (ST); thermalgeothermal power plant (GPP) in area-2 and thermal-hydro in area-3. An original endeavour has been set out to execute a new performance index named hybrid peak area integral squared error (HPA-ISE) and two-stage controller with amalgamation of proportional-integral and fractional order proportional-derivative, hence named as PI(FOPD). The performance of PI(FOPD) has been compared with varied controllers like proportional-integral (PI), proportional-integralderivative (PID). Various investigation express excellency of PI(FOPD) controller over other controller from outlook regarding lessened level of peak anomalies and time duration for settling. Thus, PI(FOPD) controller's excellent performance is stated when comparison is undergone for a three-area basic thermal system. The above said controller's gains and related parameters are developed by the aid of Artificial Rabbit Optimization (ARO). Also, studies with HPA-ISE enhances system dynamics over ISE. Moreover, a study on various area capacity ratios (ACR) suggests that high ACR shows better dynamics. The basic thermal system is united with renewable sources ST in area-1 also GPP in area-2. Also, hydro unit is installed in area-3. The performance of this new combination of system is compared with the basic thermal system using PI(FOPD) controller. It is detected that dynamic presentation of new system is improved. Action in existence of redox flow battery is also examined which provides with noteworthy outcome. PI(FOPD) parameters values at nominal condition are appropriate for higher value of disturbance without need for optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State‐of‐the‐art applications of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the analysis and optimization of electrochemical reactors and redox flow batteries are reviewed. Various factors are covered which affect the efficiency of electrochemical reactors and redox flow batteries created using CFD simulation approaches, including physical and chemical factors, such as pH, treatment time, temperature, and the conductivity of the solution, as well as design elements like inter‐electrode distance and electrode materials. Different hydrodynamic variables are discussed that impact the efficiency of these systems, such as pressure distribution, velocity, tracer mass fraction, geometry, flow‐based electrochemical energy storage, and residence time distribution. Although CFD methods are reliable, more straightforward, and cost‐effective, also the limitations of CFD and the challenges are considered that remain in its development and application in electrochemical engineering. The significant progress made in the use of CFD to study electrochemical reactors and redox flow batteries and the technology's potential to improve the efficiency and sustainability of these technologies are emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One essential element of redox flow batteries (RFBs) is the flow field. Certain dead zones that cause local overpotentials and side effects are present in all conventional designs. To lessen the detrimental effects, a dead-zone-compensated design of flow field optimization is proposed. The proposed architecture allows for the detection of dead zones and their compensation on existing flow fields. Higher reactant concentrations and uniformity factors can be revealed in the 3D multiphysical simulation. The experiments also demonstrate that at an energy efficiency (EE) of 80%, the maximum current density of the novel flow field is 205 mA cm-2, which is much higher than the values for the previous ones (165 mA cm-2) and typical serpentine flow field (153 mA cm-2). Extensions of the design have successfully increased system EE (2.7 to 4.3%) for a variety of flow patterns. As a result, the proposed design is demonstrated to be a general method to support the functionality and application of RFBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of renewable energy from solar panels and windmills is rapidly increasing these years. However, one of the biggest hurdles that need to be overcome in the green transition is cost‐efficient energy storage to reach the full exploitation of their potential. A promising energy storage technology is redox flow batteries (RFBs), particularly using quinones as electron carriers. The prototypes of quinone batteries have been derived from crude oil, which unfortunately falls short of the ambition of sustainable energy production purely from renewable sources. It is well‐known that filamentous fungi have a great capacity for quinone production. and the first RFB with a fungal‐produced quinone was recently generated as a proof‐of‐concept. Here, we give our opinion and perspectives on which challenges need to be solved before an RFB with fungal‐produced quinones can be applied in the green transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non‐fluorinated ion exchange membranes with high proton selectivity and conductivity are sought as separators for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) to substitute the typically used perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymer membranes. Polybenzimidazole based membranes offer a promising non‐fluorinated alternative due to their excellent thermomechanical properties, low vanadium crossover, and ionic conductivity in acidic media. In this work, a series of polybenzimidazole‐polyvinylchloride polymer blends were cast and decorated with different quaternary ammonium functionalities. The polymer blends were systematically studied with respect to the blend composition and chemical structure of the quaternary ammonium groups. Assessment of relevant membrane properties for use in an aqueous acidic flow battery was conducted through a combination of VRFB single cell testing, permeability measurements, water/electrolyte uptake, and infrared spectroscopy. The blend with a polybenzimidazole content of 90 % decorated with DABCO (1,4‐diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane) was found to combine low polarization resistance with low swelling and high stability. The performance was found to be similar to that of a benchmark polybenzimidazole membrane despite being three times thicker. This led to the conclusion that quaternary ammonium functionalized polybenzimidazole‐polyvinylbenzylchloride systems is an excellent candidate for further modification or fabrication of thinner membranes to further reduce the membrane resistance without compromising on vanadium blocking properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Load frequency control (LFC) plays a crucial rule in matching the power generation with variable power demand, and hence, maintains the system frequency and tie-line power to its esteemed value. Further, most of the countries are dependent on thermal power plants to meet the electrical energy requirement, and hence, LFC strategies are available for these types of power plants only. As the world is moving to generate electrical energy via cleaner sources to reduce harmful environmental pollutants, and hence, hydro power are one of the well-developed and cleanest sources of electrical energy. Subsequently, this article shows up a novel LFC design for hydro-hydro system based on joint endeavors of fuzzy logic with PID viably optimized through particle swarm optimization (PSO) coming into a new and robust Fuzzy-PSO-PID for LFC. At to beginning with, the result of Fuzzy-PSO-PID is evaluated for step load alteration, and the outcomes of Fuzzy-PSO-PID are matched with recently published outcomes of LFC with regards to values of PID, error minimization, and graphical results. In any case, still, there may be a scope of LFC upgrade in Fuzzy-PSO-PID due to higher responding time of turbines used in hydro-hydro plants and subsequently, the combinations of storage devices such as ultra-capacitor (UC) in each zone and UC with redox flow battery combination are used to improve the LFC and the application outcomes are analyzed again and uncover considering the step load alteration, non-linearity, load pattern, and parametric modification to see the benefits of the proposed work for hydro-hydro LFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a graphite felt electrode was modified by NS double‐element and NB double‐element codoping. The surface morphology, crystal structure, element content, and surface chemical state of the modified electrode were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrochemical performance of the modified electrode was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectra, and a single cell. The results show that nitrogen (N) and boron (B) double‐element codoping can enhance the catalytic activity of graphite felt and create abundant defect sites, which increases the electrocatalytic activity by approximately a factor of 2. The reason why the doped graphite felt can obtain higher electrocatalytic activity may be related to the synergy between N and B atoms, especially the synergy between pyridine‐N and BC3, and the resistance of the first charge transfer reaction of 1,8‐dihydroxyanthraquinone on the doped graphite felt electrode is then reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are hindered by complex failure modes, particularly crossover through the membrane, resulting in capacity fade and reduced cycling efficiencies. Redox‐active oligomers (RAOs) have recently been proposed for mitigating this phenomenon while maintaining sufficient transport properties; however, to date, few studies have quantified how the chemical and electrochemical properties of RAOs influence their performance in redox flow cells. Here, we demonstrate that oligomeric derivatives of 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine 1‐oxyl (TEMPO) exhibit lower diffusivities than the monomeric species but retain facile charge transfer characteristics. The size‐dependent variations in mass transport rates directly translate to differences in flow cell polarization and symmetric cycling performance. Post‐mortem analyses reveal that oligomerization does not meaningfully alter decay processes as evinced by similar capacity fade across all species. Broadly, these findings corroborate and extend upon previously developed relationships between molecular size, electrochemical properties, and flow cell performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrophilic poly(2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperdinyloxy‐4‐yl‐methacrylamide) (PTMAm) was utilized as redox target material in an aqueous organic redox targeting flow battery (RTFB). This polymer is processed into granules, which contain a conductive agent and an alginate binder. By this, a hydrophilic, yet water‐insoluble redox target can be obtained. The target was combined with the redox mediator molecule N,N,N‐trimethyl‐2‐oxo‐2‐[(2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidin‐4‐yloxyl)amino]ethan‐1‐ammonium chloride (TEMPOAmide), that has been reported earlier as flow battery active material. This target/mediator combination has been characterized electrochemically and flow battery testing has been done. Furthermore, in‐operando characterization of the redox target via electrolyte state‐of‐charge (SOC) monitoring has been performed for the first time. The approach provides estimates for the redox target's SOC changes during cycling. In addition, a figure of merit – the "redox targetivity" – is proposed, which provides insights into the efficiency of the targeting reaction and supports the future optimization of materials, cell designs, and operational parameters for RTFBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy storage devices are imperative to damp out the oscillations caused by sudden magnified disturbances occurring in a power system. The presence of a small rating of storage device in each area can alleviate the system oscillations effectively. Therefore, in this work, redox flow batteries (RFBs) have been integrated in each area of a five-area interconnected system for effective load frequency control (LFC). The RFB pumps up the active power into the system quickly to meet the short-time overload; in turn, the efficacy of the LFC in the system is boosted. Despite the presence of the RFB in the power system, a secondary controller is necessary to quench the deviation of frequency and tie-line power caused by the power mismatch between demand and generation. In this perspective, a cascade controller incorporated with a fractional operator (FO) has been endorsed and designed through a nascent selfish herd optimizer technique to evaluate the transient response of the system. Besides this, the unprecedented performance of fractional-order cascade controllers has been compared with one-stage classical controllers with and without a fractional operator. Further, the robustness of the proposed controller has been inspected through subjecting it to a random load in the presence/absence of an RFB and parametric variation. Finally, the proposed model has been simulated in the OPAL-RT-4510 platform to validate the performance of the proposed controller that has produced in the MATLAB environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Bicontinuous microemulsions (BMEs) have attracted attention as unique heterogeneous mixture for electrochemistry. An interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) is an electrochemical system that straddles the interface between a saline and an organic solvent with a lipophilic electrolyte. Although most BMEs have been reported with nonpolar oils, such as toluene and fatty acids, it should be possible to construct a sponge-like three-dimensionally expanded ITIES comprising a BME phase. Dichloromethane (DCM)–water microemulsions stabilized by a surfactant were investigated in terms of the concentrations of co-surfactants and hydrophilic/lipophilic salts. A Winsor III microemulsion three-layer system, consisting of an upper saline phase, a middle BME phase, and a lower DCM phase, was prepared, and electrochemistry was conducted in each phase. We found the conditions for ITIES-BME phases. Regardless of where the three electrodes were placed in the macroscopically heterogeneous three-layer system, electrochemistry was possible, as in a homogeneous electrolyte solution. This indicates that the anodic and cathodic reactions can be divided into two immiscible solution phases. A redox flow battery comprising a three-layer system with a BME as the middle phase was demonstrated, paving the way for applications such as electrolysis synthesis and secondary batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's rapidly evolving interconnected electric power system network, ancillary service such as automatic generation control (AGC) plays a critical and important role in safeguarding the system's power supply quality by establishing an equilibrium between generation and load demanded plus losses. A power system with a robust and smart AGC strategy is obligatory for better power quality and system security. Cascade control schemes cope up better with nonlinearity by tuning the gain of controller of power system amid continuous load changing. Therefore, in this article, a supplementary control approach that is, cascade optimal controller‐proportional integral with derivative filter (COC‐PIDN) is suggested for AGC performance advancement of the power systems under deregulated environment. The OC designed consuming full state feedback control approach acts as master controller and PIDN plays the role of slave controller. The nature inspired salp swarm algorithm is employed to adjust the PIDN parameters. Initially, the efficacy of the COC‐PIDN control‐method is explored on a two‐area restructured reheat thermal system and then to validate its excellence and extensibility, the study is protracted to restructured two‐area thermal‐hydro system. Extensive analysis of the findings establishes that the dynamic performance of the COC‐PIDN controller is more valuable than the OC and COC‐PID approaches. The results of COC‐PIDN get further improved in presence of redox flow battery. Finally, the sensitivity analysis as well the acquired results with the COC‐PIDN controller with system nonlinearities demonstrate its robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redox flow batteries provide high flexibility and scalability for large-scale energy storage systems due to their safety, low cost and decoupling of energy and power. While typical flow frame designs usually assume all parts are standard, the industry can suffer from irregularity and manufacturing tolerances of cell components, such as the shape or dimensions of the flow frame and porous electrode. This paper evaluates the impact of side gaps and porosity differences of the graphite felt due to irregularity and manufacturing tolerances on the electrolyte flow in the active cell areas. A three-dimensional hydraulic model with parameterised multi-cell stack geometry has been developed in COMSOL to compare the cell velocity distributions and pressure losses of a vanadium redox flow battery with flow-through electrodes. The results indicate that the side gaps and porosity segments can result in preferential flow within low-resistance areas, leading to significantly lower flow rates for other cell areas compared with standard flow frames. Proposed countermeasures of adjusting channel locations and applying dimples protruding into the cell cavity from the flow frame show good potential to avoid stagnant zones and maintain theoretical flow rates for the active cell areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) hold great potential for large‐scale, extended‐duration stationary energy storage. Here, a novel computationally cost‐effective hydraulic‐electrical analogous model (HEAM) for fluid flow in RFBs is developed. The HEAM demonstrated that lowering the electrode compression and enhancing the channel area lowers the pump power loss independent of the flow fields and electrodes. Additionally, the HEAM helped elucidate the deficiencies of flow distribution in interdigitated flow fields (IFFs) and suggested designing wider manifolds and/or shorter channels improve the flow distribution. Moreover, the HEAM suggested shallower and/or wider channels, and more permeable electrodes enhance the flow penetration rate above the channels. Finally, the HEAM showed that the average penetration depth in the electrode above the ribs (hpen) was the critical parameter in the fluid‐flow modeling of IFFs and was inversely proportional to the permeability. Hence, there is a trade‐off between the pump power loss and hpen when configuring electrode permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) of sulfonated poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) (SPPO) with different sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5%) were prepared for possible application in Iron‐air/flow battery. The presence of SGO in the membrane improved the water uptake of all membranes prepared and decreased the swelling ratio. The SPPO/1% w/w SGO showed good properties with higher water uptake of 44.1%, water retention of 42.48% and swelling ratio of 21.4% at 25°C. However, the 0.75% SGO exhibited the highest proton conductivity of 0.98 S/cm and better dispersion, elemental distribution, and morphology. In addition, SGO improved the thermal stability of all composite membranes. The chemical stability of all membranes remained good after 7 days in a 1 M HCL solution. The SPPO/0.75%w/w SGO showed increased proton conductivity when degradation properties were evaluated. Compared to Nafion 117, all composites showed lower iron crossover. Nafion had a high permeability of 3.03 × 10−7 cm−2/s, which is 75% higher than the 7.6 × 10−8 cm−2/s of SPPO/SGO‐1.5% and 52% higher than the 1.46 × 10−7 cm−2/s of SPPO/SGO‐0.75%. The results indicate that SGO is a good inorganic filler for the composite proton exchange membrane and stable enough for possible application in an iron‐air/flow battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript analyses a case study of a wind-integrated power plant where an Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm-based Model Predictive Controller (AOA-MPC) has been employed for the combined control of voltage and frequency. The work in this manuscript considers stochastic variations in wind output caused by the small stochastic drifts and sudden deterministic shifts in the wind turbine output. The proposed controller's performance has been judged after assessing the time response performance specifications/indices and comparing it with the existing recent methodologies available in the literature. Further improvement in frequency oscillations reduction has been obtained while considering the Redox Flow Battery (RFB) loop as an auxiliary Load Frequency Control loop. Moreover, the computational potential of the presented algorithm has been tested under different nonlinearities and time delay cases in the Area Control Error (ACE) of the load frequency control (LFC) loop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To boost the operational performance of a non-aqueous DES electrolyte-based vanadium-iron redox flow battery (RFB), our previous work proposed a double-layer porous electrode spliced by carbon paper and graphite felt. However, this electrode's architecture still needs to be further optimized under different operational conditions. Hence, this paper proposes a multi-layer artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict the relationship between vanadium-iron RFB's performance and double-layer electrode structural characteristics. A training dataset of ANN is generated by three-dimensional finite-element numerical simulations of the galvanostatic discharging process. In addition, a genetic algorithm (GA) is coupled to an ANN regression training process for optimizing the model parameters to elevate the accuracy of ANN prediction. The novelty of this work lies in this modified optimal method of a double-layer electrode for non-aqueous RFB driven by a machine learning (ML) model coupled with GA. The comparative result shows that the ML model reaches a satisfactory predictive accuracy, and the mean square error of this model is lower than other popular ML regression models. Based on the known region of operating conditions, the obtained results prove that this well-trained ML algorithm can be used to estimate whether a double-layer electrode should be applied to a non-aqueous vanadium-iron RFB and determine an appropriate thickness ratio for this double-layer electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper discusses the modeling and analysis of a diesel–wind generating system capable enough to cater to the electrical power requirements of a small consumer group or society. Due to high variations of the load demand or due to changes in the wind speed, the frequency of the diesel–wind system will be highly disturbed, and hence to regulate the frequency and power deviations of the wind turbine system, an effective controller design is a necessary requirement, and therefore this paper proposes a novel controller design based on PID scheme. The parameters of this controller is effectively optimized through a new snake optimizer (SO) in an offline manner to minimize frequency and power deviations of an isolated diesel–wind system. The performance of SO-PID for the diesel–wind system is evaluated by considering the integral of time multiplied absolute error (ITAE), integral absolute error (IAE), and integral of time multiplied square error (ITSE). The results were calculated for a step change in load, step change in wind speed, load change at different instants of time with diverse magnitude, and for random load patterns, and they were compared with some of the recently published results under similar working conditions. In addition, the effect of an ultracapacitor (UC) and redox flow battery (RFB) on SO-PID was investigated for the considered system, and the application results demonstrated the advantages of our proposal over other studied designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redox flow batteries (RFB) are considered one of the most promising electrochemical energy storage technologies for stationary storage applications, especially for long duration energy storage services. RFBs are electrochemical energy converters that use flowing media as or with active materials, where the electrochemical reactions can be reversed. Knowledge of technical standards and other regulations lay the foundations for successful and safe commercialization of products through uniform instructions and generally applicable rules. A small number of papers on safety and regulatory issues of RFBs are reported in the literature, mainly for two reasons. First, because this technology is considered safe; and second, because most of the publications have been limited to short-term characterization studies of materials in chemistry. This paper aims to help fill this gap, providing researchers and students with introductory knowledge on the safety and regulatory aspects of RFBs, mainly from an electrical and hydraulic point of view. The reader is referred to specific regulations for deeper studies and analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All‐vanadium redox flow batteries are promising large‐scale energy storage solutions to support intermittent power generation. Commercial graphite felts are among the most used materials as electrodes for these batteries due to their cheap price, high conductivity, and large surface area. However, these materials exhibit poor wettability and electrochemical activity towards vanadium redox reactions, which translates into overpotentials and lower efficiencies. Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are mixtures of Lewis acids and bases that exhibit lower melting points than their original components. Here, a DES composed of choline chloride and urea, and a DES composed of FeCl3 and NH4Cl have been employed to modify the surface of graphite felts alongside a series of re‐carbonization steps. The resulting materials were compared against pristine, thermally activated, and oxidatively activated graphite felts. Our results indicated that the treatments introduced new oxygen and nitrogen functionalities to the carbonaceous surface and increased the surface area, the degree of disorder and defects in the graphitic layers of the fibres. Cyclic voltammetry studies demonstrated higher electrochemical activity towards vanadium redox reactions and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy experiments showed the modified materials exhibited significantly lower charge transfer resistances. When tested in full cell configuration the electrode modified with the urea‐based DES exhibited comparable coulombic efficiencies and superior energy storage capacity retention than the thermally oxidized felt used as benchmark, suggesting that the introduction of oxygen‐ and nitrogen‐rich functional groups had a positive effect on the overall electrochemical performance of graphite felts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study of electrochemical performance and hydrodynamic effects on a single cell for all vanadium redox flow batteries has been investigated in the present study. Electrochemical performance of a cell has been conducted with an active area of 414 cm2 fitted with serpentine, interdigitated, and enhanced cross‐flow split serpentine (ECFSS) flow fields. The effects of electrolyte circulation rates on the electrochemical performance have been investigated for each flow field, and stable energy efficiency was achieved in 20 charge/discharge cycles for all three flow fields. Higher coulombic, voltage, and energy efficiencies in the serpentine flow field were achieved to be 96%, 82%, and 79%, respectively. The maximum peak power density values for the serpentine, ECFSS, and interdigitated flow field were found to be 158.2, 152.5, and 136.8 mW·cm−2, respectively, at a flow rate of 345 mL·min−1. Furthermore, detailed flow analysis was simulated by using computational fluid dynamics, and these studies postulated the reasons for the higher performance of the serpentine flow field compared to other flow fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a strong interest in finding highly soluble redox compounds to improve the energy density of redox flow batteries (RFBs). However, the performance of electrolytes is often negatively influenced by high solute concentration. Herein, we designed a high‐potential (0.5 V vs. Ag/Ag+) catholyte for RFBs, where the charged and discharged species are both gaseous nitrogen oxides (NOx). These species can be liberated from the liquid electrolyte and stored in a separate gas container, allowing scale‐up of storage capacity without increasing the concentration and volume of the electrolyte. The oxidation of NO in the presence of NO3− affords N2O3, and the reduction of N2O3 regenerates NO and NO3−, together affording the electrochemical reaction: NO3−+3 NO⇌2 N2O3+e− with a low mass/charge ratio of 152 grams per mole of stored electron. A proof‐of‐concept NOx symmetric H‐cell shows 200 stable cycles over 400 hours with >97 % Coulombic efficiency and negligible capacity decay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are one of the most promising techniques to store and convert green and renewable energy, benefiting from their advantages of high safety, flexible design and long lifespan. Membranes with fast and selective ions transport are required for the advances of RFBs. Remarkably, two‐dimensional (2D) materials with high mechanical and chemical stability, strict size exclusion and abundantly modifiable functional groups, have attracted extensive attentions in the applications of energy fields. Herein, the improvements and perspectives of 2D materials working for ionic transportation and sieving in RFBs membranes are presented. The characteristics of various materials and their advantages and disadvantages in the applications of RFBs membranes particularly are focused. This review is expected to provide a guidance for the design of membranes based on 2D materials for RFBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) are a fertile energy storage technology especially for customized storage applications with special energy and power requirements. The dimensioning and control of these storages is mostly calculated beforehand using battery models in embedded simulation structures. To cover various stack designs, chemistries, application strategies and system architectures, battery simulation models should be validated with different experimental input data and thus show universal functionality. In this study the functionality of a grey box VRFB model using current, voltage and state of charge (SOC) of a 10 kW/100 kWh VRFB as input data are validated for an adapted input data set using of a 5 kW/10 kWh VRFB. This model is designed for stationary applications of VRFB only. The contribution of this study is (i) to apply a suitable SOC conversion method to the raw data from the used 5 kW VRFB system, (ii) to adapt the modeling code for broader use and integration of the SOC conversion, (iii) to validate the functionality and (iv) to investigate the influence of constant current and constant voltage phases in the raw data on the accuracy of the model. A comparison of experimental data between different redox flow batteries shows that most VRFB measure the open circuit voltage (OCV) to calculate the SOC of the battery. Using the calculated SOC as an input data the proposed simulation model need to be adapted and a method is applied to use OCV input data for model validation. Although simulation models in general often assume linearity between SOC and OCV, the study showed sufficient accuracy using polynomic fitting of second order. Applying a parametrization process the results of the simulation model are compared to the raw data and the scope of application of the grey box VRFB model is defined. While using the dominant constant current phase for the charging and discharging cycle, the grey box simulation model has been sufficiently parametrized and validated for adapted input data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective scaling-up of redox flow batteries (RFBs) can be facilitated upon lowering the capital costs. The application of ubiquitous manganese along with hydrogen (known as H2−Mn regenerative fuel cells (RFC)) is seen as an effective solution for this purpose. Here, we aim to evaluate different positive electrodes so as to improve the key performance metrics of the H2/Mn RFC, namely electrolyte utilization, energy efficiency, and peak power densities. Commercially available carbon paper and graphite felt are used to show that the latter provides better key performance indicators (KPIs), which is consistent with the results reported for standard all-vanadium RFBs in the literature. Even better KPIs are obtained when an in-house carbon catalyst layer (CCL) is employed in combination with graphite felt electrodes (e.g., more than 80% energy efficiency, >0.5 W cm−2 peak power density and electrolyte utilization of 20 Ah L−1 for felt and carbon metal fabric (CMF), prepared by means of electrospinning and carbonization, in comparison with about 75% energy efficiency 0.45 W cm−2 peak power density and 11 Ah L−1 electrolyte utilization for felt on its own). It is envisaged that if the electrochemical performance of CCLs can be optimized then it could open up new opportunities for the commercial exploitation of H2−Mn systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecule aggregation in solution is acknowledged to be universal and can regulate the molecule's physiochemical properties, which however has been rarely investigated in electrochemistry. Herein, an electrochemical method is developed to quantitatively study the aggregation behavior of the target molecule methyl viologen dichloride. It is found that the oxidation state dicationic ions stay discrete, while the singly‐reduced state monoradicals yield a concentration‐dependent aggregation behavior. As a result, the molecule's energy level and its redox potential can be effectively regulated. This work does not only provide a method to investigate the molecular aggregation, but also demonstrates the feasibility to tune redox flow battery's performance by regulating the aggregation behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed X‐ray absorption studies for the electrolytes of a Ti−Mn redox flow battery (RFB) to understand the redox reaction of the Ti/Mn ions and formation of precipitates in charged catholyte, because suppression of the disproportionation reaction is a key to improve the cyclability of Ti−Mn RFB and enhance the energy density. Hard X‐ray absorption spectroscopy with a high transmittance and soft X‐ray absorption spectroscopy to directly observe the 3d orbitals were complementarily employed. Moreover, the Ti/Mn 3d electronic structure for each precipitate and solution in the charged catholyte was investigated by using scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy: the valence of Mn in the precipitate is mostly attributed to 4+, and the solution includes only Mn2+. This charge disproportionation reaction should occur after the Mn ions in the catholyte should be oxidized from Mn2+ to Mn3+ by charge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tetracationic viologen based on dimethylaminoethanol is reported as a novel negolyte for aqueous‐organic flow batteries. The compound (1,1′‐bis(3‐((2‐hydroxyethyl)dimethylammonio)propyl)‐[4,4′‐bipyridine]‐1,1′‐diium tetrachloride), termed [(DMAE‐Pr)2‐Vi]Cl4, was prepared by replacing the trimethylammonium groups of a former analogue for dimethylaminoethanol derivatives as permanently charged moieties, improving its solubility and modifying its electronic structure, as revealed by DFT calculations. Its electrochemical properties and diffusion coefficient were investigated by voltammetry and DOSY. The battery concept was demonstrated by pairing [(DMAE‐Pr)2‐Vi]Cl4 with a TEMPOL posolyte using a low‐cost anion exchange membrane and a neutral‐pH supporting electrolyte. [(DMAE‐Pr)2‐Vi]Cl4 has great potential for enhancing energy density in viologen flow batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]