Project Description

Project Overview:  Materials engineers and scientists are developing a new battery that could solve the electricity storage problem that limits the widespread use of renewable energy. This technology is a new spin on a known design that stores electricity in solutions, sorts the electrons and releases power when it’s needed.  This project focuses on the synthesis of ion conductive framework membranes and redox active molecular species for redox flow batteries targeting grid energy storage. The goal of this project is to learn how to synthesize anolytes and catholytes to optimize kinetics, affordability, and stability.  Fundamental properties of the materials (e.g. structure, ion conductivity, redox property, mechanical property) will be characterized and analyzed using microscopy, SEM, XRD, and EDS to understand their structure-electrochemical property relationship.

Client:  Dr. Dawei Feng, UW Madison

Student Team:  Cameron Boulier, Nick Steppke, Max Wessel, Matthew Johnson