A bifurcate interdigitated flow field with high performance but significantly reduced pumping work for scale-up of redox flow batteries

Guo，Zixiao1; Ren，Jiayou1; Sun，Jing1; Liu，Bin1; Fan，Xinzhuang1; Zhao，Tianshou1,2

2023-04-30

10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.232757

JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES   Impact Factor & Quartile

0378-7753

1873-2755

Designing flow fields that can uniformly distribute electrolytes while maintain a low pumping work is challenging for high-performance redox flow batteries, especially for scaled-up battery stacks. In this work, we propose a bifurcate interdigitated flow field, which hierarchically splits the electrolyte and transports it into branch channels, thereby lowering the pumping loss and enhancing the uniformity of electrolyte distribution. The application of the flow field to a vanadium redox flow battery reduces the pressure drop by 45%, thereby increasing the pump-based voltage efficiency from 69.95% to 73.10% compared to that with conventional interdigitated flow field at a flow rate of 2.4 mL min cm and current density of 250 mA cm. Furthermore, three-dimensional modeling reveals that the superiority of reducing the pumping loss becomes more extraordinary with the enlargement of active area, indicating that the bifurcate interdigitated flow field shows great potential for the scale-up of high-performance flow batteries with a low pumping work.

Bifurcate interdigitated flow field Mass transport Pumping loss Redox flow batteries

SCI

English

Corresponding

Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China[T23 -601/17-R] ; Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Science and Technology Program (Category C)[SGDX2020110309460000] ; Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province[2021A1515011821]

Chemistry ; Electrochemistry ; Energy & Fuels ; Materials Science

Chemistry, Physical ; Electrochemistry ; Energy & Fuels ; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary

WOS:000949948500001

ELSEVIER

MATERIALS SCIENCE

2-s2.0-85149066432

Scopus

1.Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,Kowloon,Clear Water Bay,Hong Kong
2.Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,Hong Kong

Guo，Zixiao,Ren，Jiayou,Sun，Jing,et al. A bifurcate interdigitated flow field with high performance but significantly reduced pumping work for scale-up of redox flow batteries[J]. JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES,2023,564.

Guo，Zixiao,Ren，Jiayou,Sun，Jing,Liu，Bin,Fan，Xinzhuang,&Zhao，Tianshou.(2023).A bifurcate interdigitated flow field with high performance but significantly reduced pumping work for scale-up of redox flow batteries.JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES,564.

Guo，Zixiao,et al."A bifurcate interdigitated flow field with high performance but significantly reduced pumping work for scale-up of redox flow batteries".JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES 564(2023).