Emerging soluble organic redox materials for next-generation grid energy-storage applications

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Prospective Article

Emerging soluble organic redox materials for next-generation grid energy-storage applications Xiaowen Zhan, Battery Materials and Systems Group, Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, USA Xiaochuan Lu, Department of Applied Engineering Technology, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA David M. Reed, Vincent L. Sprenkle, and Guosheng Li, Battery Materials and Systems Group, Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, USA Address all correspondence to Xiaochuan Lu at [email protected] and Guosheng Li at [email protected] (Received 31 January 2020; accepted 26 March 2020)

Abstract Because of their structural versatility, fast redox reactivity, high storage capacity, sustainability, and environmental friendliness, soluble organic redox molecules have emerged as materials that have potential for use in energy-storage systems. Considering these advantages, this paper reviews recent progress in implementing such materials in aqueous soluble organic redox flow batteries and organic alkali metal/air batteries. We identify and discuss major challenges associated with molecular structures, cell configurations, and electrochemical parameters. Hopefully, we provide a general guidance for the future development of soluble organic redox materials for emerging energy-storage devices used in the electricity grid.

Introduction U.S. Energy Information Administration’s projects that from now and extending for several decades, fossil fuels will remain the primary energy resource used in the USA; however, the demand for energy from renewable resources will rapidly increase to reduce the carbon footprint of energy cycle.[1] As such, there is an urgent need to develop systems that can store intermittently produced energy from renewable resources such as solar photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, and tidal systems for reliable grid applications. State-of-the-art lithium-ion battery technology, while dominant in powering portable electronics and electric vehicles, cannot necessarily satisfy large-scale grid services due to its rapidly increasing materials cost, limited materials reserves, and safety concerns associated with the use of flammable electrolytes, possible dendrite formation, etc.[2–8] Recent research efforts on energy-storage systems (ESS) have been focused on two major areas—transportation energy storage [9–12] and grid energy storage.[13–15] For transportation use, extensive work has been done to optimize commercially mature lithium-ion battery technology, including the development of advanced layered Ni-rich cathode materials that provide higher capacities and cycling stabilities.[16–20] Switching to solid electrolytes to build all solid-state lithium batteries[21–32] also is being pursued widely because of the potential safety, energy density, and cyclability benefits. For grid applications, storage systems such as lead–acid, sodium–sulfur, sodium–nickel chlorides, and redox flow ba