Performance and cycling of the iron-ion/hydrogen redox flow cell with various catholyte salts

A redox flow cell utilizing the Fe2+/Fe3+ and H-2/H+ couples is investigated as an energy storage device. A conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cell anode and membrane design is employed, with a cathode chamber containing a carbon felt flooded with aqueous acidic solution of iron salt. The maximum power densities achieved for iron sulfate, iron chloride, and iron nitrate are 148, 207, and 234 mW cm(-2), respectively. It is found that the capacity of the iron nitrate solution decreases rapidly during cycling. Stable cycling is observed for more than 100 h with iron chloride and iron sulfate solutions. Both iron sulfate and iron chloride solutions display moderate discharge polarization and poor charge polarization; therefore, voltage efficiency decreases dramatically with increasing current density. A small self-discharge current occurs when catholyte is circulating through the cathode chamber. As a result, a current density above 100 mA cm(-2) is required to achieve high Coulombic efficiency (> 0.9).