A Choline-Based Antifreezing Complexing Agent with Selective Compatibility for Zn-Br2 Flow Batteries

The high freezing point of polybromides, charging products, is a significant obstacle to the rapid development of zinc-bromine flow batteries (Zn-Br-2 FBs). Here, a choline-based complexing agent (CCA) is constructed to liquefy the polybromides at low temperatures. Depending on quaternary ammonium group, choline can effectively complex with polybromide anions and form dense oil-phase that has excellent antifreezing property. Benefiting from indispensable strong ion-ion interaction, the highly selectively compatible CCA, consisting of choline and N-methyl-N-ethyl-morpholinium salts (CCA-M), can be achieved to further enhance bromine fixing ability. Interestingly, the formed polybromides with CCA-M are able to keep liquid even at -40 degrees C. The CCA-M endows Zn-Br-2 FBs at 40 mA cm(-2) with unprecedented long cycle life (over 150 cycles) and high Coulombic efficiency (CE, average approximate to 98.8%) at -20 degrees C, but also at room temperature (over 1200 cycles, average CE: approximate to 94.7%). The CCA shows a promising prospect of application and should be extended to other antifreezing bromine-based energy storage systems.

Automated summary

Choline-based complexing agent (CCA) is able to liquefy polybromides at low temperatures, improving the antifreezing property and bromine fixing ability of zinc-bromine flow batteries (Zn-Br-2 FBs). This CCA shows promising application prospects in other antifreezing bromine-based energy storage systems.