Isabelle Aquilina
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): David Kwabi
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Mechanical Engineering / Engineering
Program:
Authors: Isabelle Aquilina, Siddhant Singh, David Kwabi
Session: Session 2: 10:00 am – 10:50 am
Poster: 24
Abstract
Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are intermittent, leading to a misalignment of peak power generation and demand. The growing push for clean energy thus requires greater research into inexpensive large-scale energy storage, in this case by employing organic redox flow batteries. Despite being comparatively cheap, organic molecules tend to show high decay rates in flow batteries, and current research in the field involves understanding these mechanisms. Owing to the customizable properties of organic molecules, design strategies can be used to minimize this degradation. This study investigates azobenzenes, an appealing class of molecules application due to their current use as dyes, meaning they can already be mass-produced. Based on previous research in the lab, we investigated a promising sub-species of azobenzenes, benzo[c]cinnoline (BzC). The molecule’s performance was analyzed by charging and discharging a symmetric cell over an extended period to analyze the cell’s capacity, efficiency, and cycle voltages. Each solution, from both the positive and negative terminals, was analyzed using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) before and after cycling to determine any relevant molecule decay. The primary issues in capacity fade were mainly attributed to oxidation from latent oxygen in the inert environment that altered the overall capacity. The cells using BzC were cycled for several days with a relatively lower consistent fade rate. Further work is needed on increased concentrations of BzC to determine changes in the fade rate and overall cell performance in a full battery. This involves understanding the, albeit low, fade rate mechanism. These experiments represent the potential of this new class of benzo[c]cinnolines as a promising option for use in flow cells and are a part of growing research surrounding a variety of molecules aimed at creating an economically viable cell for use in clean energy grid storage.
