Battery performance promotion and mass transfer enhancement of organic redox flow battery by a novel spindle electrode design

Due to the safety, economy, flexible design and eco-friendliness, the organic redox flow battery (ORFB) was regarded as one of the huge development potential technologies, which was limited by the poor mass transfer behavior. A novel electrode structure like the spindle was designed, which could enhance mass transfer and promote the battery performance. Based on a three-dimensional steady-state numerical model, the influences of the novel electrode on the battery performance and mass transfer behaviors in different state of charge (SOC) were investigated. The results showed that the spindle electrodes could increase the discharge voltages by 8% and reduce the charge voltage 5.5% compared with the conventional cuboid electrode. The average concen-tration of 2,6-reDHAQ in the spindle electrode was 107% higher than that in the cuboid electrode and for the uniformity factor the promotion was 46% higher. It can be concluded that the spindle electrode can improve the battery performance of ORFB and provided a new design idea for the electrode, which was beneficial to the industrialization and commercialization of ORFBs.