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Performance and cycling of the iron-ion/hydrogen redox flow cell with various catholyte salts

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Abstract

A redox flow cell utilizing the Fe2+/Fe3+ and H2/H+ couples is investigated as an energy storage device. A conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cell anode and membrane design is employed, with a cathode chamber containing a carbon felt flooded with aqueous acidic solution of iron salt. The maximum power densities achieved for iron sulfate, iron chloride, and iron nitrate are 148, 207, and 234 mW cm−2, respectively. It is found that the capacity of the iron nitrate solution decreases rapidly during cycling. Stable cycling is observed for more than 100 h with iron chloride and iron sulfate solutions. Both iron sulfate and iron chloride solutions display moderate discharge polarization and poor charge polarization; therefore, voltage efficiency decreases dramatically with increasing current density. A small self-discharge current occurs when catholyte is circulating through the cathode chamber. As a result, a current density above 100 mA cm−2 is required to achieve high Coulombic efficiency (>0.9).

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Acknowledgments

Stanislaus Grosjean contributed to the design and fabrication of the experimental setup for this study. The authors thank Kyu Taek Cho for helpful discussion and guidance during the initiation of this study. We also thank John Kerr and Vincent S. Battaglia for fruitful discussion. This study was supported in part by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fuel Cell Technologies Office, of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC02-05CH11231.

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  1. Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Michael C. Tucker, Venkat Srinivasan, Philip N. Ross & Adam Z. Weber

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  1. Michael C. Tucker
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  2. Venkat Srinivasan
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  3. Philip N. Ross
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  4. Adam Z. Weber
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Correspondence to Michael C. Tucker.

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Tucker, M.C., Srinivasan, V., Ross, P.N. et al. Performance and cycling of the iron-ion/hydrogen redox flow cell with various catholyte salts. J Appl Electrochem 43, 637–644 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-013-0553-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-013-0553-2

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