A Digital Blueprint for 3D-Printing Lab Scale Aqueous and Organic Redox-Flow Batteries

As 3D-printing is becoming increasingly accessible, its application towards more sustainable and flexible design strategies for chemical processes also grows substantially. Redox-flow batteries (RFBs) are recognized as one of the possible next generation energy storage solutions, owing to the inherent decoupling of power and energy, yet the capital costs involved produce a high barrier to enter the field. Here, we demonstrate a full digital blueprint for printing one's own RFB, that can enable more (organic chemistry) contributions to the field. At the time of writing, the combined costs of only the RFB cell total around 60 (sic), which is less than commercially available RFB cells by a great margin. The cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy and potentiostatic cycling experiments exemplified by the K-4[Fe-II(CN)(6)] | K-3[Fe-III(CN)(6)] redox-pair for aqueous, and ferrocene | ferrocenium for organic electrolytes, validate the stability of the technical lab-scale design and provides benchmark values for reproduction.

Automated summary

With the increasing accessibility of 3D printing, more sustainable and flexible design strategies can be applied to chemical processes. This paper presents a digital blueprint for printing one's own redox-flow battery, which allows for more contributions to the field of organic chemistry. Experimental results demonstrate the stability of the printed battery.