Preparation of titanium catecholate complex in aqueous solution using titanium tetrachloride or titanium oxychloride

摘要

Titanium coordination complexes, particularly titanium catecholate complexes, are attractive materials as active materials for use in flow batteries. However, on the other hand, coordinating complexes can be difficult to prepare from low cost starting materials, especially in aqueous solutions. Titanium oxychloride and titanium tetrachloride are relatively low cost titanium sources that can be used to prepare the coordination complexes. A method for preparing a titanium catecholate complex comprises mixing one or more catecholate ligands with titanium oxychloride in an aqueous solution and reacting the one or more catecholate ligands with titanium oxychloride in the aqueous solution. Forming a titanium catecholate complex. Titanium tetrachloride can be used as a precursor to produce titanium oxychloride in situ. In some examples, the titanium catecholate complex can be isolated in solid form, and the isolated solid can be substantially free of alkali metal ions. [Selection] Figure 1