Extending the lifespan of soluble lead flow batteries with a sodium acetate additive
Journal
Journal of Visualized Experiments
Journal Volume
2019
Journal Issue
143
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
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.
SDGs
Type
journal article
