Catalytic production of impurity-free V(3.5+) electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries

The vanadium redox flow battery is considered one of the most promising candidates for use in large-scale energy storage systems. However, its commercialization has been hindered due to the high manufacturing cost of the vanadium electrolyte, which is currently prepared using a costly electrolysis method with limited productivity. In this work, we present a simpler method for chemical production of impurity-free V(3.5+) electrolyte by utilizing formic acid as a reducing agent and Pt/C as a catalyst. With the catalytic reduction of V(4+) electrolyte, a high quality V(3.5+) electrolyte was successfully produced and excellent cell performance was achieved. Based on the result, a prototype catalytic reactor employing Pt/C-decorated carbon felt was designed, and high-speed, continuous production of V(3.5+) electrolyte in this manner was demonstrated with the reactor. This invention offers a simple but practical strategy to reduce the production cost of V(3.5+) electrolyte while retaining quality that is adequate for high-performance operations.