Scientific Achievement
We developed an easy-to-synthesize benzotriazole-based anolyte with a high energy redox potential (-2.3 V vs Fc/Fc+) and high solubility that demonstrates stable electrochemical cycling performance.
Significance and Impact
This material exhibits the lowest redox potential of stable anolyte for a non-aqueous redox flow battery.
Research Details
- Preliminary electrochemical and DFT studies demonstrate that the benzotriazole scaffold has a quasi-reversible reduction event that is stabilized when using N,N-dimethylformamide electrolyte solutions.
- Testing a series of electronically diverse benzotriazoles the 2-phenyl derivative exhibited the most stable cycling performance.
- This material was applied in static and flow battery prototypes, achieving an energy density of 125 mW/cm2 at the current density of 100 mA/cm2 and a Coulombic efficiency of >92 % over 17.5 h.
