Understanding and optimizing 3D electrode microstructure for redox flow batteries

Large-scale energy storage is essential for the integration of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, as they are intermittent in nature. A promising candidate for the storage of renewable energy are redox flow batteries (RFBs) as they provide upscaling possibilities due to the decoupling of energy and power. However, current RFBs are too expensive and must therefore be optimized before widespread commercialization. One possible way to decrease the costs is to optimize the porous electrodes in the RFBs as they are responsible for the liquid and electronic transport and the electrochemical reactions on their surfaces.

Current understanding and development of porous electrodes is driven by empirical investigations of commercially available materials, which is resource- and time-intensive and limited to suboptimal structures. The aim of this project is to design and synthesize novel electrodes from the bottom up by using a combination of computer simulations and synthetic methods. First, the role of the electrode microstructure will be thoroughly investigated using computer simulations and experiments to elucidate microstructure-property-performance relationships. These learnings will be leveraged to artificially generate electrode microstructures which are expected to enhance the performance of electrochemical storage systems.