Towards higher energy density redox-flow batteries: imidazolium ionic liquid for Zn electrochemistry in flow environment

Kalani Periyapperuma; Yafei Zhang; Douglas R. Macfarlane; Maria Forsyth; Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo; Patrick C Howlett

doi:10.1002/celc.201600875

Towards higher energy density redox-flow batteries: imidazolium ionic liquid for Zn electrochemistry in flow environment

Kalani Periyapperuma, Yafei Zhang, Douglas R. Macfarlane, Maria Forsyth, Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo, Patrick C Howlett

School of Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present the first demonstration of an ionic liquid electrolyte under a realistic flow environment for applications in redox-flow batteries based on the Zn²⁺/Zn⁰ redox couple. An electrolyte mixture containing Zn(dca)₂ and 3wt% H₂O in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide, [Emim][dca], ionic liquid was used to study the effects of Zn²⁺ concentration and flow rate on the Zn²⁺/Zn⁰ electrochemical performance as well as its impact on the morphology of the Zn deposit. An optimized Zn²⁺ concentration and flow rate were determined by using an in-house-designed 3D-printed flow-cell prototype. Surface characterization through SEM revealed that both the concentration and flow rate directly impact Zn morphology under flow conditions. The electrolyte mixture with a higher Zn(dca)₂ concentration (18mol%) showed favourable results; voltammetry showed higher peak current densities (100mA/cm² discharge current density) and more positive Zn electrodeposition potentials (-1.33V vs Ag/AgOTf) coupled with higher cycling efficiency (45±3%) compared to those obtained with the lower Zn concentration system (9mol%, -1.44V vs Ag/AgOTf, 48mA/cm² discharge current density and 33±3% cycling efficiency).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1051-1058
Number of pages	9
Journal	ChemElectroChem
Volume	4
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/celc.201600875
Publication status	Published - May 2017

Keywords

Flow conditions
Flow rate
Morphology
Redox flow
Zinc

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10.1002/celc.201600875

Link to publication in Scopus

Cite this

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title = "Towards higher energy density redox-flow batteries: imidazolium ionic liquid for Zn electrochemistry in flow environment",

abstract = "We present the first demonstration of an ionic liquid electrolyte under a realistic flow environment for applications in redox-flow batteries based on the Zn2+/Zn0 redox couple. An electrolyte mixture containing Zn(dca)2 and 3wt% H2O in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide, [Emim][dca], ionic liquid was used to study the effects of Zn2+ concentration and flow rate on the Zn2+/Zn0 electrochemical performance as well as its impact on the morphology of the Zn deposit. An optimized Zn2+ concentration and flow rate were determined by using an in-house-designed 3D-printed flow-cell prototype. Surface characterization through SEM revealed that both the concentration and flow rate directly impact Zn morphology under flow conditions. The electrolyte mixture with a higher Zn(dca)2 concentration (18mol%) showed favourable results; voltammetry showed higher peak current densities (100mA/cm2 discharge current density) and more positive Zn electrodeposition potentials (-1.33V vs Ag/AgOTf) coupled with higher cycling efficiency (45±3%) compared to those obtained with the lower Zn concentration system (9mol%, -1.44V vs Ag/AgOTf, 48mA/cm2 discharge current density and 33±3% cycling efficiency).",

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Towards higher energy density redox-flow batteries : imidazolium ionic liquid for Zn electrochemistry in flow environment. / Periyapperuma, Kalani; Zhang, Yafei; Macfarlane, Douglas R.; Forsyth, Maria; Pozo-Gonzalo, Cristina; Howlett, Patrick C.

In: ChemElectroChem, Vol. 4, No. 5, 05.2017, p. 1051-1058.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

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AU - Pozo-Gonzalo, Cristina

AU - Howlett, Patrick C

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