Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are one of the most promising scalable electricity-storage systems to address the intermittency issues of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. The prerequisite for RFBs to be economically viable and widely employed is their low cost. Here we present a new zinc–iron (Zn–Fe) RFB based on double-membrane triple-electrolyte design that is estimated to have under $100 per kW h system capital cost. Such a low cost is achieved by a combination of inexpensive redox materials (i.e., zinc and iron) and high cell performance (e.g., 676 mW cm[superscript −2] power density). Engineering of the cell structure is found to be critical to enable the high power density. Our cost model shows that a Zn–Fe RFB demonstrates the lowest cost among some notable RFBs and could reach the 2023 cost target set by the U.S. Department of Energy ($150 per kW h).
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机译：氧化还原液流电池（RFB）是解决可再生能源（例如风能和太阳能）的间歇性问题的最有前途的可扩展电存储系统之一。 RFB要在经济上可行并被广泛采用，其前提是其低成本。在这里，我们介绍一种基于双膜三电解液设计的新型锌铁（Zn-Fe）RFB，估计其每千瓦时系统资本成本低于100美元。通过廉价的氧化还原材料（即锌和铁）和高电池性能（例如676 mW cm [上标-2]功率密度）的组合，可以实现如此低的成本。发现单元结构的工程对于实现高功率密度至关重要。我们的成本模型显示，Zn-Fe RFB在某些著名的RFB中显示出最低的成本，并且可以达到美国能源部设定的2023年成本目标（每千瓦时$ 150）。
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