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Batteries
Special Issues
Redox Flow Batteries: Modeling, Optimization, and Management
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Redox Flow Batteries: Modeling, Optimization, and Management

A Special Issue of Batteries (ISSN 2313-0105) belonging to the section "Emerging Battery Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 January 2027 | Viewed by 777

Editors

Dr. Zebo Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Science and Technology, Guilin, China
Interests: vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) multiphysics model establishment; battery operation strategy research; flow field design and flow rate optimization; VRFB charging and discharging strategy optimization under wind power conditions
Dr. Zhenyu Wang

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
Interests: energy; battery; advanced manufacturing; redox flow batteries
Dr. Nianben Zheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
Interests: vanadium redox flow batteries; vanadium electrolyte; thermal battery; battery thermal management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Redox flow batteries (RFBs), particularly vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), have emerged as promising scalable energy storage solutions for renewable power integration, thanks to their flexible capacity design, long cycle life, and high safety. However, their large-scale commercialization is still hindered by inefficient mass/heat transfer, electrolyte stability issues, suboptimal flow field structures, and unscientific operational strategies. This Special Issue focuses on multiphysics modeling, performance optimization, and thermal management of RFB systems. It aims to collect cutting-edge studies covering coupled electrochemical–hydrodynamic–thermal simulation, vanadium electrolyte property regulation, innovative flow field design, and intelligent flow rate optimization. Additionally, it advances systematic battery operation strategy research to mitigate electrolyte precipitation, reduce energy loss, and enhance system efficiency and reliability. The findings provide critical multiphysics guidance for the structural design, thermal control, and intelligent operation of high-performance RFBs, bridging numerical simulation and engineering application for large-scale energy storage deployment.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Multiphysics coupling modeling of redox flow batteries integrating electrochemistry, hydrodynamics, mass transfer and heat transfer mechanisms.
  • Advanced flow field design and structural optimization for uniform electrolyte distribution and reduced concentration polarization.
  • Thermal management system design and heat dissipation optimization for vanadium redox flow batteries under variable working conditions.
  • Intelligent battery operation strategy research for efficiency improvement and lifespan extension of RFB energy storage systems.
  • Multi-scale parameter optimization and performance prediction of VRFB stacks based on numerical simulation.
  • Stability regulation and performance optimization of vanadium electrolyte against temperature-induced precipitation and ion crossover.

Dr. Zebo Huang
Dr. Zhenyu Wang
Dr. Nianben Zheng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Batteries is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • multi-physics field modeling
  • flow field structure design and optimization
  • full lifecycle performance evaluation
  • battery thermal management
  • vanadium electrolyte

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 3870 KB  
Article
Evolution of Discharge DC Internal Resistance and Its Association with Capacity Degradation in a Vanadium Redox Flow Battery During Long-Term Cycling
by Tianhao Xu, Senxian Wei, Zebo Huang, Zhen Li, Jun Ma, Jianjun Wu, Dongping Li, Yi Luo, Yusen Deng, Yangsheng Liu and Xing Xie
Batteries 2026, 12(9), 339; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries12090339 - 4 Sep 2026
Viewed by 123
Abstract
Long-term degradation of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) is strongly coupled with the evolution of discharge direct current internal resistance (DCIR). This work employs 213 constant-current cycles on a 4 cm2 single cell to examine the associations between discharge DCIR and capacity, [...] Read more.
Long-term degradation of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) is strongly coupled with the evolution of discharge direct current internal resistance (DCIR). This work employs 213 constant-current cycles on a 4 cm2 single cell to examine the associations between discharge DCIR and capacity, discharge voltage and efficiencies. The average values of the initial 10 cycles were used as the baseline. Multiple statistical approaches, including detrending, differencing, moving-block bootstrap, and internal chronological holdout evaluation were used to assess the influence of shared temporal trends and serial dependence. Self-calculated DCIR matches test records closely with merely 1.03% average relative error. After trend correction, normalized DCIR maintains a strong negative correlation with normalized capacity. The established free-intercept quadratic model achieved the best full-data fitting performance, with an R2 of 0.99593 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.00524. The fitted empirical relationship indicates that equal increments in normalized DCIR are associated with larger concurrent capacity-state reductions in the higher-resistance region. During the internal chronological holdout evaluation, the DCIR-based model yielded an RMSE of 0.00854. These results establish a statistically robust DCIR–capacity relationship over long-term cycling and demonstrate the potential of routinely recorded discharge DCIR as a low-cost concurrent capacity-state indicator, providing a quantitative foundation for its future extension to broader VRFB operating scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Redox Flow Batteries: Modeling, Optimization, and Management)
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31 pages, 2741 KB  
Article
Condition-Dependent Open Circuit Voltage Behavior in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries and Implications for State-of-Charge Estimation
by Jianlin Li, Qian Wang and Yun Liu
Batteries 2026, 12(8), 269; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries12080269 - 23 Jul 2026
Viewed by 423
Abstract
Accurate state-of-charge (SOC) estimation is essential for reliable operation of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), yet many model-based methods treat the open-circuit-voltage (OCV)-SOC relationship as a fixed calibration curve. This study experimentally investigates condition-dependent SOC-OCV behavior using a laboratory-scale VRFB equipped with a [...] Read more.
Accurate state-of-charge (SOC) estimation is essential for reliable operation of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), yet many model-based methods treat the open-circuit-voltage (OCV)-SOC relationship as a fixed calibration curve. This study experimentally investigates condition-dependent SOC-OCV behavior using a laboratory-scale VRFB equipped with a bypass OCV cell. The bypass OCV method was validated against an intermittent discharge–rest method, with OCV differences below 5 mV. SOC-OCV characteristics were then examined under different electrolyte flow rates, cycling histories, electrolyte/component refreshing conditions, and a dynamic stress test profile. The results show that the SOC-OCV curve varies with cycling history and flow rate, while electrolyte/component refreshing and dynamic operation further modify the measured OCV response. Fixed-curve-based SOC inversion confirms that calibration mismatch can introduce substantial SOC estimation errors, with a case-specific maximum error of 11.36% observed when the initial post-preconditioning constant-current curve was applied to the cell after 50 cycles under the tested 96 mL min−1 DST condition. These findings highlight the need for adaptive OCV correction and condition-dependent SOC-OCV mapping in practical VRFB SOC estimation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Redox Flow Batteries: Modeling, Optimization, and Management)
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