Titanium Sintered Electrode Coating for Lower-Cost Redox Flow Batteries
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Solution Overview
Problem
Redox-flow batteries using iridium oxide or palladium oxide catalysts are costly due to high material expenses, and there is a need for electrodes with enhanced reactivity while minimizing the use of these expensive materials.
Innovation Solution
An electrode for redox-flow batteries composed of a titanium sintered base material with a catalyst layer containing a first oxide, including ruthenium and at least one of tungsten, molybdenum, cerium, or vanadium, with limited iridium and palladium content, and optionally an intermediate layer to enhance adhesion and conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If iridium oxide or palladium oxide catalysts are used in the electrode, then charging and discharging reactions are facilitated and battery reactivity is improved, but the material cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive iridium oxide or palladium oxide catalysts with a cheaper catalyst composition containing ruthenium oxide and at least one of tungsten oxide, molybdenum oxide, cerium oxide, or vanadium oxide. This substitution maintains adequate catalytic function for charging and discharging reactions while significantly reducing material costs, embodying the principle of using more economical materials to achieve the required performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite catalyst system consisting of ruthenium oxide combined with at least one of tungsten oxide, molybdenum oxide, cerium oxide, or vanadium oxide. This composite material approach leverages the synergistic effects between different metal oxides to achieve effective catalysis at lower cost, replacing the single-component expensive catalysts (iridium oxide or palladium oxide) with a multi-component cheaper alternative.
2Quantity of substance
If the content of iridium and palladium is reduced to minimize cost, then material expenses decrease, but battery reactivity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the chemical composition parameters of the catalyst by substituting iridium oxide or palladium oxide with a ruthenium-based composite system containing tungsten oxide, molybdenum oxide, cerium oxide, or vanadium oxide. This parameter change in material composition allows achieving the required battery reactivity at lower material costs by selecting different chemical elements with favorable properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adopts cheaper metal oxide materials (ruthenium, tungsten, molybdenum, cerium, vanadium) to replace expensive precious metal catalysts (iridium, palladium). This substitution strategy maintains sufficient catalytic activity for battery operations while dramatically reducing the quantity and cost of expensive materials required, directly addressing the contradiction between material cost and performance.
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
The electrode achieves high reactivity and low cell resistivity, reducing costs by minimizing expensive catalyst use while maintaining effective charging and discharging reactions.
Implementation Method 1
when a catalyst is supported on an electrode, oxidation-reduction reaction at the electrode is activated and, thereby, electrolyte-battery reactivity can be improved
Implementation Method 2
a catalyst is supported on a base material. The catalyst is a metal oxide... charging reaction and discharging reaction at the electrode are facilitated
Implementation Method 3
the base material is composed of a sintered body formed of a plurality of particles bonded to each other
Data Source
AI summary
An electrode for a redox-flow battery, the electrode comprising a base material having a sheet form and a catalyst supported on the base material, wherein the base material is composed of a sintered body formed of a plurality of particles bonded to each other, the plurality of particles include titanium, the catalyst includes a first oxide provided to cover at least some of the plurality of particles, the first oxide is an oxide including ruthenium and at least one type of first element selected from the group consisting of tungsten, molybdenum, cerium, neodymium, and vanadium, and each of a content of iridium and a content of palladium included in the catalyst per 1 m2 of an area of the electrode is 1 g or less.