Vanadium batteries in the field of energy storage

What is a vanadium flow battery?

The vanadium flow battery (VFB) as one kind of energy storage technique that has enormous impact on the stabilization and smooth output of renewable energy. Key materials like membranes, electrode, and electrolytes will finally determine the performance of VFBs.

Are vanadium redox flow batteries the future of energy storage?

The trend of increasing energy production from renewable sources has awakened great interest in the use of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFB) in large-scale energy storage. The VRFB correspond to an emerging technology, in continuous improvement with many potential applications.

Why is vanadium used in batteries?

The use of vanadium as the only active species is mainly linked to the mitigation of contamination problems between the electrolytes, which causes an extension of the battery life, in addition to keeping the species soluble without the phase change in the electrodes .

Why does vanadium oxidation affect battery capacity?

Furthermore, the results reinforced that the discrepancy observed in the diffusion coefficients for ions in different vanadium oxidation states contributes to the creation of vanadium accumulations in the positive half-cell during the charge/discharge cycles, leading to a decline in the capacity of the battery .

Why is vanadium a problem?

However, as the grid becomes increasingly dominated by renewables, more and more flow batteries will be needed to provide long-duration storage. Demand for vanadium will grow, and that will be a problem. “Vanadium is found around the world but in dilute amounts, and extracting it is difficult,” says Rodby.

Can nanocatalysts increase volumetric capacity of a vanadium battery?

In this perspective, other works bring new alternatives of catalyst ions, such as the one carried out by Duan et al. , who, in addition to adopting the pair VO 2+ /V 3+ aiming to increase the volumetric capacity for a new vanadium battery named VRFB, analyzed the efficiency of using copper (Cu +) and bismuth (Bi 3+) nanocatalysts in anolytes.