Zinc-nickel single flow batteries with improved cycling stability by eliminating zinc accumulation on the negative electrode

• A novel electrode has been used to adjust side reactions at negative side.
• Side reactions at negative side were promoted to match that at positive side.
• CE difference between negative and positive electrodes decreased from 2.7% to 0%.
• The quantity of accumulated zinc was reduced from 5.53 mg to 0.00043 mg per cycle.

Zinc accumulation is recognized as one of the most critical issues that affect the cycle life of zinc-nickel single flow batteries (ZNBs). In this paper, a novel and very specific method has been proposed to solve the above problem. The side reactions, which are always regarded as negative factors, are promoted at negative side to balance the side reactions at positive side. A novel electrode with high reaction area and well mass transport structure has been designed to facilitate parasitic reactions at negative side. The result shows that zinc accumulation has been successfully solved by balancing positive reactions and negative reactions with this novel electrode, and no zinc accumulates on the negative electrode over 400 cycles. This paper provides an effective way to improve the cycling stability of ZNBs, which is the most troublesome for the commercialization of ZNBs.

A novel electrode was designed to promote side reactions at negative side to match that at positive side to solve zinc accumulation, the most troblesome issue in ZNBs.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide