The Critical Role of Supporting Electrolyte Selection on Flow Battery Cost

© 2017 The Author(s) 2017. Published by ECS. Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are promising devices for grid energy storage, but additional cost reductions are needed to meet the U.S. Department of Energy recommended capital cost of $150 kWh-1 for an installed system. The development of new active species designed to lower cost or improve performance is a promising approach, but these new materials often require compatible electrolytes that optimize stability, solubility, and reaction kinetics. This work quantifies changes in RFB cost performance for different aqueous supporting electrolytes paired with different types of membranes. A techno-economic model is also used to estimate RFB-system costs for the different membrane and supporting salt options considered herein. Beyond the conventional RFB design incorporating small active species and an ion-exchange membrane (IEM), this work also considers size-selective separators as a cost-effective alternative to IEMs. The size selective separator (SSS) concept utilizes nanoporous separators with no functionalization for ion selectivity, and the active species are large enough that they cannot pass through the separator pores. Our analysis finds that SSS or H+-IEM are most promising to achieve cost targets for aqueous RFBs, and supporting electrolyte selection yields cost differences in the $100's kWh-1.