Known as ‘redox flow battery’, researchers have for the first time, researchers demonstrated an organic battery. Storage-wise, the organic battery features large capacity that can be used to store energy from solar cells and wind turbines, and as power bank for cars.
In terms of function, redox flow batteries are static in which the energy is stored in the electrolyte, outside the cell, as in like a fuel cell. Often marketed with the prefix ‘eco’ – redox flow batteries open the possibility of reserving excess energy. Further, the recharging redox flow batteries unlimited number of times appears to be a possibility as well. On the downside, redox flow batteries often has vanadium – a rare and expensive metal. Meanwhile, redox flow battery can have an electrolyte to be water-based, which enables safe use of the battery, but results in a lower energy density.
Creation of Water-based Electrolyte stimulates manufacture of organic battery
To address this, researchers have for the first time succeeded in producing water-based electrolyte, as well as electrodes made of organic material, which improves the energy density considerably. In this way, it is possible to manufacture 100 percent organic, redox flow batteries for storage of energy, for example, from the wind and sun. Further, redox flow batteries can also compensate for load variation in the electrical supply grid.
To attain this, researchers used conducting polymer PEDOT for the electrodes, which were doped to transport negative ions or positive ions. The water-based electrolyte that is developed contains a solution of quinone molecules.
“While quinone can be derived from wood, the same molecule is used here, along with several variants of the conducting polymer PEDOT. The variants of PEDOT are highly compatible with each other like a gift from the natural world,” said one of the associates of the study.
