Energy cycle based on a high specific energy aqueous flow battery and its potential use for fully electric vehicles and for direct solar-to-chemical energy conversion

A flow battery employing H2 as the fuel and one or more of highly soluble halate salts (such as 50 % w/w LiBrO3 aq.) as the oxidant presents a viable opportunity as a power source for fully electric vehicles which meets the specific energy, specific power, energy efficiency, cost, safety, and refill time requirements. We further disclose a process of regeneration of the fuel and the oxidant from the discharged halide salt and water using electric (or solar) energy as the only input and generating no chemical waste. The cycle of discharge and regeneration takes advantage of pH-driven comproportionation and disproportionation reactions, respectively, and of pH manipulation using an orthogonal ion migration across laminar flow (OIMALF™) reactor.