A High‐Voltage Membrane‐Free Li–Organic Hybrid Flow Battery Using Eutectic Lithium Chemistry
ABSTRACT Membrane‐free redox flow batteries offer simplified design and reduced cost, but their electrochemical performance remains limited. Here, a high‐voltage nonaqueous membrane‐free Li–organic hybrid flow battery was constructed using a biphasic electrolyte. The bottom‐phase anolyte is a deep eutectic solvent formed by lithium hexafluorophosphate and 2,2,2‐trifluoroacetamide, which provides a wide electrochemical stability window of 4.81 V, low viscosity of 13.8 cP, high ionic conductivity of 8.59 mS·cm −1 , and stable compatibility with lithium metal. The top‐phase catholyte is dichloromethane containing a long‐alkyl‐chain phenothiazine derivative, which exhibits excellent redox reversibility and strict confinement in the upper phase. The biphasic system achieved an open‐circuit voltage of approximately 3.6 V and stable operation at 0.5 M concentration, retaining 85.6% of theoretical capacity with a Coulombic efficiency of 97.6% after 100 cycles. In flow configuration, the 0.5 M battery maintained over 92% capacity after 10 days of continuous cycling with minimal self‐discharge. A preliminary cost estimation yielded $134.8 kWh −1 , which is lower than vanadium redox flow batteries, and both electrolyte phases displayed strong flame resistance. This study provides a viable design strategy to enable membrane‐free nonaqueous Li–organic hybrid flow battery by leveraging eutectic lithium chemistry and immiscible solvent interfaces.
Authors
- X Wang
- Bindu Dahal
- Jianbing Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7466-522X)
- Rabin Siwakoti
- Jack McGrath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0754-3624)
- Yuhang Tang
- Jun Cheng
- Feng Wang
Institutions
- Tan Kah Kee Innovation Laboratory (CN)
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (CN)
- University of Cincinnati (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2026-07-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.8407735
- Primary Topic
- Advanced battery technologies research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00