An aqueous ZnCl₂/Fe(bpy)₃Cl₂ flow battery with mild electrolyte

Abstract

The kinetics of electrode reaction was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, and cyclic voltammograms show that the reversibility of the Fe(bpy)₃²⁺/Fe(bpy)₃³⁺ electrode reaction is better than that of the Zn/Zn²⁺ electrode reaction on the graphite disc. However, the Fe(bpy)₃²⁺ ion diffusion in electrolyte is subject to greater resistance than that of the Zn²⁺ ion one. The stability of the Fe(bpy)₃Cl₂ solution was investigated by UV–vis spectroscopy, and the performance of a mild redox flow battery employing ZnCl₂ and Fe(bpy)₃Cl₂ in the NaCl aqueous solution with various membranes as the separator was also investigated. It was found that the Celgard 3501 membrane cannot effectively prevent Fe(bpy)₃²⁺ ions from leaking into anolyte, leading to the rapid failure of the flow battery. Although the Nafion 115 membrane can be polluted by Fe(bpy)₃²⁺ ions, it is not invalidated. The Nafion 115 membrane shows good selectivity, which can avoid Fe(bpy)₃²⁺ ions from leakage into anolyte. The ZnCl₂/Fe(bpy)₃Cl₂ flow battery with the Nafion 115 membrane exhibits the capacity retention of 80% after 200 cycles.

Keywords

redox flow battery / zinc / bipyridine / iron

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