Rémy Jacquemond

This challenging project Ion exchange membranes as separators in all-organic redox flow-batteries is dedicated to the development of IEMs able to withstand organic solvent environment and broad electrochemical potential gradients. It is of first importance to identify polymer candidates having enough functional groups to perform crosslinking (giving solvent stability) but on the other hand, those functional groups are generally responsible for the redox activity of the polymer. The major challenge is therefore the tradeoff between having enough freedom for polymer modification while keeping an electrochemically inert material. This project is multidisciplinary going from the design of IEM materials (organic synthesis and polymer chemistry) to the characterization of their behavior as ionic conductors in harsh environment and RFB performance testing.