Solar rechargeable redox battery based on polysulfide electrochemistry

Authors

Mohammad Ali Mahmoudzadeh, University of British Columbia
Ashwin Usagocar, University of British Columbia
Joseph Giorgio, University of WollongongFollow
David L. Officer, University of WollongongFollow
Gordon G. Wallace, University of WollongongFollow
John D. W Madden, University of British Columbia

RIS ID

112267

Publication Details

Mahmoudzadeh, M. Ali., Usagocar, A., Giorgio, J., Officer, D. L., Wallace, G. G. & Madden, J. D. W. (2016). Solar rechargeable redox battery based on polysulfide electrochemistry. ECS Transactions, 72 (12), 23-31. ECS Transactions

Abstract

A solar rechargeable redox flow battery is presented with the highest reported volumetric and areal energy density for an integrated solar energy harvesting and storage device. These features are demonstrated in a scalable solar rechargeable redox flow battery with iodide/polysulfide as the pair of active materials, nickel foam and platinum mesh permeable porous electrodes and a dye sensitized photoelectrode. The flow rate acts as a controlling mechanism for optimal performance of the device. A charge capacity of 4.17 Ah L-1 together with an energy density of 2.1 Wh L-1 are achieved, which are 6 times larger than previous reported solar redox flow battery chemistries. The solar rechargeable redox flow battery system offers a higher round-trip efficiency and potential cost savings on fabrication compared to coupled separate devices.