Redox Flow Battery Termination Assembly Coating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Redox flow batteries face efficiency issues and contamination due to the dissolution of current collectors, such as copper and silver, when they come into contact with the electrolyte liquid, leading to corrosion and hydrogen formation, which can cause significant damage and require costly maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A termination arrangement with a current collector coated in an electrically conductive material over at least 20% of the contact area, combined with an electrode end plate coating, limits copper and silver content to 5% by weight and platinum group elements to 0.05% by weight, ensuring an electrical resistance of no more than 1 ohm.cm^2 for at least 2000 hours, preventing contamination and maintaining efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a metallic current collector (copper or silver) is used to ensure high electrical conductivity, then the electrical performance of the battery is improved, but the current collector dissolves in the electrolyte liquid causing contamination and hydrogen formation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies an intermediary substance (coating layer) between the metallic current collector and the electrolyte liquid. This coating prevents direct contact between the metal and electrolyte, eliminating dissolution and contamination while maintaining electrical conductivity through the coating layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the surface properties of the current collector by applying a coating that modifies the interface between the metal and electrolyte. This parameter change (surface composition) prevents harmful chemical reactions while preserving the bulk electrical conductivity of the metallic current collector.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the current collector is coated to prevent dissolution, then contamination is reduced, but electrical resistance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the coating parameters (thickness, composition, conductivity) to achieve a balance between protection and electrical performance. By carefully controlling these parameters, the coating provides sufficient protection against dissolution while maintaining low electrical resistance for efficient current collection.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution prevents contamination of the electrolyte liquid, maintains low electrical resistance, and ensures the redox flow battery's efficiency by limiting the dissolution of copper and silver, thus reducing maintenance needs and extending the battery's operational life.
Implementation Method 1
the current collector and the electrode end plate being arranged adjacent to one another in a contact area and being in electrical contact
Implementation Method 2
preventing contamination and maintaining efficiency by limiting the dissolution of copper and silver
Implementation Method 3
the positive and negative half cells of a cell being separated from one another by a semipermeable membrane
Implementation Method 4
A redox flow battery is a system for generating or storing energy on an electrochemical basis
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
Figure 4
AI summary
The aim of the invention is to specify a termination assembly of a cell stack (2) of a redox flow battery (1), which termination assembly enables sufficiently high efficiency of the redox flow battery (1) and does not contaminate an electrolyte liquid when in contact with said electrolyte liquid. This aim is achieved in that the termination assembly is designed having a current collector (3) and an electrode end plate (70), wherein in a contact region (5) the electrode end plate (70) and the current collector (3) lie against each other and are in electrical contact, wherein in at least 20 % of the contact region (5) the current collector (3) is coated with an electrically conductive current collector coating (30), the electrode end plate (70) is coated with an electrically conductive electrode coating (71) in said at least 20 % of the contact region (5), the combination of the current collector (3), the current collector coating (30) and the electrode coating (71) consists of at most 5 wt% of Cu and Ag in total and at most 0.05 % of elements of the platinum group in total and the electrical resistance of the combination of the current collector (3), the current collector coating (30) and the electrode coating (71) does not exceed 1 ohm · cm2 over a time period of at least 2000 hours.