110th Anniversary: Unleashing the Full Potential of Quinones for High Performance Aqueous Organic Flow Battery

Abstract

Aqueous organic flow batteries (AOFBs) are promising energy storage solutions to counteract the intermittent and fluctuating nature of renewable energy. However, we have limited options of electrolyte chemistry and we discarded many organic compounds because of their sluggish electrochemical kinetics, which would compromise the power capability of an AOFB. Here, exemplified by 2,5-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (DMBQ), we present two approaches including engineering the molecular structure and utilizing an inexpensive catalyst to enhance the electrochemical kinetics of benzoquinones with the ultimate purpose of diminishing the electron transfer barrier thereby increasing the power capability of the AOFB. We show that, by exploiting these strategies, the electron transfer resistance could be reduced by 48.1%, or 55.8%, respectively, thereby leading to a 49.4% or 60.7% increase in the peak power density of a flowing cell. We believe our strategy could be extended to the full family of quinones and that it benefits further exploration of quinone-based high performance AOFBs.

Organic Flow Batteries: Recent Progress and Perspectives

“…Typical redox-active organic molecules for alkaline aqueous system and their solubility, number of electrons transferred, and theoretical capacity. 2,6-Dihydroxy­anthraquinone (2,6-DHAQ), , 1,8-dihydroxy­anthraquinone (1,8-DHAQ), 2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone (2,5-DHBQ), polybenzoquinone (polyBQ), 4,4′-((9,10-anthraquinone-2,6-diyl)­dioxy) dibutyrate (2,6-DBEAQ), alizarin-3-methylimino­diacetic acid (AMA), 2-hydroxy-3-carboxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (2,3-HCNQ), a mixture of NQ-S and lawsone (NQ-SO), bislawsone, 2,5-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (DMBQ), 2,5-dimethoxy-3,6-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone (DMOBQ), flavin mononucleotide (FMN), alloxazine 7/8-carboxylic acid (ACA), ,, 2,3-dihydroxy­phenazine (DHP), 7,8-dihydroxy­phenazine-2-carboxylic acid (DHPC), 7,8-dihydroxy­phenazine-2-sulfonic acid (DHPS), 2-hydroxy­phenazine (HP), 2-amino-3-hydroxy­phenazine (AHP), benzo­[ a ]­hydroxy­phenazine-7/8-carboxylic acid (BHPC), bistriazole- p -benzoquinone (H 2 -BTBQ), and 4-amino-1,1′-azobenzene-3,4′-disulfonic acid (AADA) …”

Anthraquinone-2,6-disulfamidic acid: an anolyte with low decomposition rates at elevated temperatures

“…Nevertheless, in comparison to other quinone derivatives that feature the solubility-promoting group (SPG) directly attached to the quinoidic core, the synthesized LiAQS is remarkably stable. The decay window ranging from 35% d −1 for the 2,5-dimethoxy-3,6-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone 32 to 0.14% d −1 for the 2,6-dihydroxyanthraquinone 33 in full battery setup and 70% d −1 for tetramorpholinohydroquinone 34 and 0.08% d −1 2,7-anthraquinone disulfonic acid 33 in a symmetric cell set up. The topic of electrolyte lifetime in aqueous RFB is excellently summed up in the review of Kwabi et al 17 …”

Bioderived Molecular Electrodes for Next‐Generation Energy‐Storage Materials

“…Compared with inorganic RFB systems, an organic RFB paired with aqueous electrolyte is of low cost, with enhanced power density, improved safety, and environmental benignity . Furthermore, organic species, such as quinones, offer tunability through the attachment of functional groups for improved solubility . Aziz et al.…”