Redox Flow Batteries

Scientists in China have come up with a new design for the membrane of redox flow batteries that solves some key shortcomings and takes the technology closer to realizing its potential as a storage solution for renewable energy.

There is still some work to do in bringing current redox flow battery designs up to speed in terms of both performance and sustainability, but a new approach tackles the problem on both these fronts, by drawing on a compound commonly found in candles.

As a storage solution for renewable energy, scientists see great potential in what are known as redox flow batteries. A new design from Linköping University is a decidedly green version of this, being the first made from all-natural materials.

A team of engineers at Cornell has built a robotic fish powered by electric blood, which not only serves as an energy source, but acts hydraulically to create propulsion as well. This bio-inspired approach addresses one of the great challenges for small, untethered robots – mass vs. power.

​Just last week, Tesla announced it was building the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in Australia. Now a German energy company, Ewe Gasspeicher GmbH, is building a redox flow battery in underground salt caverns with enough output to supply a day’s worth of power to 75,000 homes.

Climate change has made the search for efficient sources of renewable energy more urgent than ever before. But how does one store and deliver energy sources like solar and wind power? The answer might lie in a fluorescent dye known as BODIPY.

A new flow battery technology promises to drastically lower the cost and sustainability of running energy storage systems. The battery uses low-cost and sustainable organic materials for electrolytes rather than the usual commodity metals, and it could be retrofitted to existing batteries.

A new flow battery developed at Harvard University uses only Earth-abundant materials and is much safer, cheaper and greener than previous designs.

In an advance that could help photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) play a stronger role within the smart grid, researchers at the University of Texas, Arlington have found a way to store the electricity generated by this clean energy source for extended periods of time.

German researchers say a new type of electric vehicle battery that runs on electrolyte fluid can be recharged as easy as refilling a petrol tank. When the redox flow rechargeable batteries are low, the discharged electrolyte fluid can simply be exchanged at the gas station for recharged fluid.

March 6, 2009 Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg , in conjunction with NLV Solar of Switzerland , is showing its full scale four-seater NLV Quant at th