Study and characterization of positive electrolytes for application in the aqueous all-copper redox flow battery

Abstract In recent studies, the employment of the aqueous solution system comprised of Cu(II)–Cu(I)–Cl system was addressed for massive energy storage in Redox Flow Batteries (RFBs) [5,6], providing important practical advantages compared to the widespread all-vanadium or Zn/Br systems [5]. The substitution of vanadium electrolytes by copper-chloride electrolytes allows the simplification of the process and notably reduces the cost, allowing for a better commercialization of RFBs. Here, a complete physico-chemical characterization of positive copper electrolytes and their electrochemical performance using different supporting electrolytes, HCl and CaCl 2 , is presented. Once the physical properties and the electrochemical performance of each one of the supporting electrolytes were determined, the final composition of supporting electrolyte for this Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox couple could be optimized by mixing different sources of chloride, regarding its practical application in the all-copper RFB.