title: All-Iron Redox Flow Battery Tailored for Off-Grid Portable Applications.
abstract: An all-iron redox flow battery is proposed and developed for end users without access to an electricity grid. The concept is a low-cost battery which the user assembles, discharges, and then disposes of the active materials. The design goals are: (1) minimize upfront cost, (2) maximize discharge energy, and (3) utilize non-toxic and environmentally benign materials. These are different goals than typically considered for electrochemical battery technology, which provides the opportunity for a novel solution. The selected materials are: low-carbon-steel negative electrode, paper separator, porous-carbon-paper positive electrode, and electrolyte solution containing 0.5 m Fe2 (SO4 )3 active material and 1.2 m NaCl supporting electrolyte. With these materials, an average power density around 20 mW cm(-2) and a maximum energy density of 11.5 Wh L(-1) are achieved. A simple cost model indicates the consumable materials cost US$6.45 per kWh(-1) , or only US$0.034 per mobile phone charge.
authors.affiliation: Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd. MS70-108b, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA. mctucker@lbl.gov.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.affiliation: Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd. MS70-108b, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd. MS70-108b, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Adam Z
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004566:Electrodes; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D016062:Porosity
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D007501:Iron
keywords: batteries; electrochemistry; energy conversion; iron