Ambipolar zinc-polyiodide electrolyte for a high-energy density aqueous redox flow battery
10.1038/ncomms7303
Crossref journal-article
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Nature Communications (297)
Abstract

AbstractRedox flow batteries are receiving wide attention for electrochemical energy storage due to their unique architecture and advantages, but progress has so far been limited by their low energy density (~25 Wh l−1). Here we report a high-energy density aqueous zinc-polyiodide flow battery. Using the highly soluble iodide/triiodide redox couple, a discharge energy density of 167 Wh l−1 is demonstrated with a near-neutral 5.0 M ZnI2 electrolyte. Nuclear magnetic resonance study and density functional theory-based simulation along with flow test data indicate that the addition of an alcohol (ethanol) induces ligand formation between oxygen on the hydroxyl group and the zinc ions, which expands the stable electrolyte temperature window to from −20 to 50 °C, while ameliorating the zinc dendrite. With the high-energy density and its benign nature free from strong acids and corrosive components, zinc-polyiodide flow battery is a promising candidate for various energy storage applications.

Bibliography

Li, B., Nie, Z., Vijayakumar, M., Li, G., Liu, J., Sprenkle, V., & Wang, W. (2015). Ambipolar zinc-polyiodide electrolyte for a high-energy density aqueous redox flow battery. Nature Communications, 6(1).

Authors 7
  1. Bin Li (first)
  2. Zimin Nie (additional)
  3. M. Vijayakumar (additional)
  4. Guosheng Li (additional)
  5. Jun Liu (additional)
  6. Vincent Sprenkle (additional)
  7. Wei Wang (additional)
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Dates
Type When
Created 10 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 24, 2015, 5:15 a.m.)
Deposited 2 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 5, 2023, 7:07 a.m.)
Indexed 1 minute ago (Aug. 27, 2025, 10:25 p.m.)
Issued 10 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 24, 2015)
Published 10 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 24, 2015)
Published Online 10 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 24, 2015)
Funders 0

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@article{Li_2015, title={Ambipolar zinc-polyiodide electrolyte for a high-energy density aqueous redox flow battery}, volume={6}, ISSN={2041-1723}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7303}, DOI={10.1038/ncomms7303}, number={1}, journal={Nature Communications}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Li, Bin and Nie, Zimin and Vijayakumar, M. and Li, Guosheng and Liu, Jun and Sprenkle, Vincent and Wang, Wei}, year={2015}, month=feb }