The present invention relates to an oxyhalide electrochemical cell comprising an anode of a Group IA metal and a cathode of a composite material prepared from a first electrochemically active carbonaceous material and a second electrochemically non-active carbonaceous material. The cathode material of the present invention provides increased discharge capacity compared to traditional lithium oxyhalide cells. In addition, the cathode material of the present invention is chemically stable which makes it particularly useful for applications that require increased rate capability in extreme environmental conditions such as those found in oil and gas exploration.

Redox flow battery performance may be improved with a metal containing ionic liquid as a liquid electrolyte. Metal containing ionic liquids are liquids at all temperatures of interest and therefore do not need dilution. As such, voltage separation between the anolyte and catholyte may exceed 0.5 V and therefor rival current state-of-the-art energy storage technologies and with higher voltage separation may attain energy densities above 100 Wh/L.

The present invention teaches an asymmetrical metal complex comprising a metal center coordinated with between two and six hydrophilic ligands, wherein at least one of said hydrophilic ligands is chemically different than the other said hydrophilic ligands.

The present invention refers to a redox-flow battery (1) comprising a positive compartment (10) comprising a positive electrode (11) and a catholyte, wherein said catholyte is an alkaline ferrocyanide solution; a catholyte reservoir container (12) connected in fluid communication with the positive compartment (10) through at least one conduct (13) and said container (12) comprising catholyte and a solid electroactive material (14), wherein said solid electroactive material is confined within the container and is selected from the group consisting of a metal oxide, a metal hydroxide, a metal oxyhydroxide or a combination thereof; a negative compartment (20) comprising a negative electrode (21) and an anolyte, wherein said anolyte is an alkaline solution; an anolyte reservoir container (22) connected in fluid communication with the negative compartment (20) through at least one conduct (23) and said container (22) comprising anolyte; and a power/load source (40). In addition, the present invention is directed to an energy storage system comprising at least one redox-flow battery (1) as defined above, to a method of storing electricity comprising providing a redox-flow battery (1) as defined above, a method of delivering electricity comprising providing a redox-flow battery (1) as defined above, to the use of the redox-flow battery (1) as defined above to store or deliver electricity and to the use of the redox-flow battery (1) as defined above in renewable energy and electromobility sectors.

Molten lithium-sulfur and lithium-selenium electrochemical cells are disclosed. A solid electrolyte separates a molten lithium metal or molten lithium metal alloy from a molten sulfur or molten selenium. The molten lithium-sulfur and lithium-selenium cells have low over potential, no side reaction, and no dendrite growth. These cells have high Coulombic efficiency and energy efficiency and thus provide new chemistries to construct high-energy, high-power, long-lifetime, low-cost and safe energy storage systems.

A redox flow battery system includes an anolyte having a first ionic species in solution; a catholyte having a second ionic species in solution, where the redox flow battery system is configured to reduce the first ionic species in the anolyte and oxidize the second ionic species in the catholyte during charging; a first electrode in contact with the anolyte, where the first electrode includes channels for collection of particles of reduced metallic impurities in the anolyte; a second electrode in contact with the catholyte; and a separator separating the anolyte from the catholyte. A method of reducing metallic impurities in an anolyte of a redox flow battery system includes reducing the metallic impurities in the anolyte; collecting particles of the reduced metallic impurities; and removing the collected particles using a cleaning solution.

Described herein are redox active materials based on functionalization of 2,5-di(pyridine-4-yl)thiazolo-[5,4-d]thiazole (Py.sub.2TTz). Also described herein are aqueous organic redox flow batteries that include a first redox active material and a second redox active material comprising a viologen compound or a salt thereof.

Systems and methods for managing flow batteries utilize a battery management controller (BMC) coupled between a flow battery and a DC/DC converter, which is coupled to an electrical grid or a photovoltaic device via an inverter. The inverter converts an AC voltage to a first DC voltage and the DC/DC converter steps down the first DC voltage to a second DC voltage. The BMC includes a first power route, a second power route, and a current source converter coupled to the second power route. The BMC initializes the flow battery with a third DC voltage using the current source converter until a sensing circuit senses that the voltage of the flow battery has reached a predetermined voltage. The sensing circuit may include a capacitor, which has a small capacitance and is coupled across each cell of the flow battery, coupled in series between two resistors having very large resistances.

An organic positive electrode active material for aqueous redox flow batteries, and more particularly, to technology of applying an organic positive electrode active material to make up for the drawbacks of conventional aqueous redox flow batteries. An aqueous redox flow battery to which a particular positive electrode active material is applied has no problems regarding metal deposition, and can also be useful in realizing a high energy density because the positive electrode active material may be used at high concentration due to an increase in solubility in a solvent, attaining a high working voltage, and enhancing energy efficiency. Also, the aqueous redox flow battery has excellent economic feasibility because an expensive organic electrolyte is not used.

A rechargeable metal halide battery with an optimized electrolyte formulation shows high capacity at fast charging rates. The optimized electrolyte includes a metal halide, an oxidizing gas, and a mixed-solvent solution that includes a glyme-based compound that is in a volume fraction of between 20-70 volume % of the mixed-solvent solution. The mixed-solvent solution may further include a nitrile compound and/or a heterocyclic compound.