Andrew Rajewski

Andy also presented a poster at the Schaap Symposium…

Cyclopropenium Donors for Linked Donor-Acceptor Systems for Symmetric Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries

Andrew Rajewski, Adina Dumitrascu, Jason G. Gillmore, Thomas F. Guarr

A series of molecules containing electron donor (D) and electron acceptor (A) moieties are being explored for future use in symmetric organic redox flow batteries (RFBs).  The synthesis, characterization and preliminary electrochemical investigation of these molecules will be described.  Past studies in the group have looked at heterocyclic donors.  This work focuses on the synthesis of cyclopropenium donors for use in linked donor-acceptor systems.  Cyclopropenium donors have been studied in recent years and have shown promising properties for use in RFBs (>=0.8 V vs. Fc/Fc+, <3% loss of storage capacity over 200 cycles).)  Linking these donors to acceptors in linked systems allows for a symmetric RFB that eliminates the ubiquitous and expensive ion exchange membrane used in typical RFBs.  Because the membrane can account for up to 40% of cell costs, this could represent an important opportunity to improve the economics of employing flow batteries for grid-level energy storage applications.

  1. Sanford, Adv. Energy Mater., 2016 7(5), 1602027