A Low Cost Ion Selective Membrane for Redox Flow Batteries

Global efforts have been underway to develop technologies capable of storing renewable energy with dependable capacity. Electric energy storage (EES) is viewed as the key enabling technology for the future grid and grid-scale redox flow batteries (RFBs) are attracting considerable interest as promising EES batteries. However, current RFBs have been hindered in their development by their cost, particularly high electrolyte and membrane costs. Due to the limited availability of commercial ion exchange membranes that can meet the requirements for use in RFBS, major research work has been dedicated to the development of the membranes. However, none of them has met the RFB and cost requirements. Therefore, membrane development holds the key to the successful commercialization of the redox flow battery systems. Recognizing the strong market pull for RFB membrane technology, Bettergy Corp. and its collaborators propose to develop a unique low cost Nanopore Engineered Membrane (NEM) to meet the challenge. This unique NEM will have very high ion selectivity (>10,000), low area specific resistance (5000 cycles) RFB can be developed to meet electric energy storage needs. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes promoting the widespread adoption of redox flow batteries as a low cost EES system and facilitating the rapid deployment of smart grids. As in order to satisfy surging energy demand and mitigate the environment impact of fossil fuel usage, renewable energy sources are becoming more and more important in power generation. However, renewable energy sources, such as wind power, suffer the drawback of fluctuation. To mitigate this problem, smart grids are now being proposed and developed. The EES system is considered as the key component of the smart grids. The market for such batteries is expected to grow rapidly. Studies indicate that the EES market could reach $52 billion if 10% of wind plants adopts EES. Our low cost, high performance ion gate membrane is one of the key components for the redox flow battery. The breakthrough could accelerate the penetration of redox flow batteries in this market. In addition, development of this innovative membrane will help maintain our nation’s leading position in this important field, creating new business opportunities and high tech jobs.