Kinetic Properties of Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Battery Anolytes Using the Marcus–Hush Theory

An electrochemical analysis strategy based on the Marcus–Hush approximation is presented to analyze the kinetic component of organic redox flow battery (RFB) electrolytes. The procedure was applied to aqueous solutions of methyl viologen (MV) and 2,2′-bipyridyl (diquat, DQ) derivatives as model redox-active electrolytes; although these systems are promising negolyte candidates in organic RFBs, their electrode kinetics continues to be unclear. For compound MV, the voltammetric analysis revealed an adsorption process of electrogenerated species to the glassy carbon electrode surface, so its electron transfer rate constant ks should not be estimated by applying outer sphere electron transfer formulations. For the remaining compounds studied, experimental ks values were obtained and they range from 0.22 to 0.62 cm s–1. Quantum chemical modeling was applied not only to decipher properties of the adsorption process of the MV structure but also to rationalize the kinetic differences in compounds studied through their total and inner reorganization energies. This experimental and theoretical approach allowed elucidation of the kinetic component of compounds studied, revealing that ks values for MV and DQ compound derivatives should not exhibit the reported differences of at least one order of magnitude. Finally, the experimental ks value (0.62 cm s–1) obtained for compound 5,5′-DMDQ is the largest value reported to date in the literature of aqueous organic RFBs, which makes it a strong anolyte candidate.