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• Prifti, H
• Parasuraman, A
• Winardi, S
• Lim, T
• Skyllas-Kazacos, M
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• Prifti, H
• Parasuraman, A
• Winardi, S
• Lim, T
• Skyllas-Kazacos, M
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• Prifti, H
• Parasuraman, A
• Winardi, S
• Lim, T
• Skyllas-Kazacos, M

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Membranes 2012, 2(2), 275-306; doi:10.3390/membranes2020275

Review

Membranes for Redox Flow Battery Applications

Helen Prifti ¹ , Aishwarya Parasuraman ² , Suminto Winardi ² , Tuti Mariana Lim ^2,3,*  and Maria Skyllas-Kazacos ^1,*

¹ School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia ² School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore ³ School of Life Sciences and Chemical Technology, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore 599489, Singapore

* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 8 May 2012; in revised form: 1 June 2012 / Accepted: 7 June 2012 / Published: 19 June 2012

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Electrochemical Energy Applications)

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Abstract: The need for large scale energy storage has become a priority to integrate renewable energy sources into the electricity grid. Redox flow batteries are considered the best option to store electricity from medium to large scale applications. However, the current high cost of redox flow batteries impedes the wide spread adoption of this technology. The membrane is a critical component of redox flow batteries as it determines the performance as well as the economic viability of the batteries. The membrane acts as a separator to prevent cross-mixing of the positive and negative electrolytes, while still allowing the transport of ions to complete the circuit during the passage of current. An ideal membrane should have high ionic conductivity, low water intake and excellent chemical and thermal stability as well as good ionic exchange capacity. Developing a low cost, chemically stable membrane for redox flow cell batteries has been a major focus for many groups around the world in recent years. This paper reviews the research work on membranes for redox flow batteries, in particular for the all-vanadium redox flow battery which has received the most attention.

Keywords: energy; redox flow batteries; membrane; stability; ionic conductivity

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