Extending the Lifespan of Soluble Lead Flow Batteries with a Sodium Acetate Additive

J Vis Exp. 2019 Jan 7:(143). doi: 10.3791/58484.

Abstract

In this report, we present a method for the construction of a soluble lead flow battery (SLFB) with an extended cycle life. By supplying an adequate amount of sodium acetate (NaOAc) to the electrolyte, a cycle life extension of over 50% is demonstrated for SLFBs via long-term galvanostatic charge/discharge experiments. A higher quality of the PbO2 electrodeposit at the positive electrode is quantitatively validated for NaOAc-added electrolyte by throwing index (TI) measurements. Images acquired by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) also exhibit more integrated PbO2 surface morphology when the SLFB is operated with the NaOAc-added electrolyte. This work indicates that electrolyte modification can be a plausible route to economically enable SLFBs for large-scale energy storage.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Electric Power Supplies*
  • Electrodes
  • Electrolytes
  • Lead
  • Sodium Acetate / chemistry*

Substances

  • Electrolytes
  • Lead
  • Sodium Acetate