WIRELESS INDUCTION OF ELECTRIC FIELDS FOR THE GENERATION OF A COUPLED BATTERY/CAPACITOR FLOW CELL

OUR PROJECT PRESENTS A DEVICE BASED ON A REDOX FLOW CELL USING SEMI-SOLID ELECTRODES THAT OBVIATES THE NEED OF AN ION-SELECTIVE MEMBRANE. WE PROPOSE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CELL DESIGN THAT AVOIDS ITS NEED BY REVERTING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRON AND ION CONDUCTORSAT THE PLACE OF THE ION-CONDUCTING MEMBRANE WE USE AN ELECTRON-CONDUCTING PLATE THAT BLOCKS ION FLOW. AT BOTH SIDES WE PLACE TWO FLOWABLE ELECTRODES. THE TWO DIFFERENT REDOX COUPLES ARE ELECTRONICALLY IN CONTACT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE CELL, BUT AT OPEN CIRCUIT REACTIONS CANNOT PROCEED BECAUSE OF CHARGE ACCUMULATION AT BOTH SIDES, THAT CHARGES THE ELECTRODE-ELECTROLYTE INTERFACE. TO ACCESS THESE INTERFACES WE INTRODUCE A ¿WIRELESS¿ CONTACT TO THE FLOWABLE ELECTRODES. THIS CONTACT IS PROVIDED BY IONS RELEASED BY A CAPACITIVE HALF-CELL, WHICH WILL BE ABLE TO NEUTRALIZE THE IONIC ACCUMULATION IN THE MIDDLE COMPARTMENTS BY AN IONIC CURRENT, WHICH IN TURN WILL CHARGE ITS INTERFACE AND SUSTAIN AN ELECTRONIC CURRENT. THE CAPACITIVE HALF-CELLS MAY BE SEEN AS IONIC TO ELECTRONIC CURRENT TRANSLATORS. THE OVERALL DEVICE WILL THEN CONSIST OF TWO EXTERNAL CAPACITIVE HALF-CELLS SEPARATED BY THE TWO BATTERY HALF CELLS. THE COUPLED CAPACITIVE PART WILL BE A SEMI SOLID FLOWABLE CAPACITOR. THE COUPLING OF THE LOW-RATE BATTERY HALF-CELLS WITH THE CAPACITIVE PARTS EFFECTIVELY PROVIDES A BATTERY-SUPERCAPACITOR HYBRID DEVICE, ABLE TO POTENTIALLY ACHIEVE INTRINSICALLY HIGH POWER AND ENERGY. IN ADDITION, THE USE OF A DENSE SEPARATOR AVOIDS ANY MIXING BETWEEN THE ELECTROLYTES, AND MAKES POSSIBLE A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT CHOICE OF BOTH, ANOLYTE AND CATHOLYTE. FOR A PROOF OF CONCEPT OF THIS DEVICE WE CHOSE AQUEOUS ZN/O2 AS BATTERY CHEMISTRY. THE SLUGGISH KINETICS OF METAL AIR BATTERIES WILL BE COMPENSATED BY THE CAPACITIVE COMPONENT, WHICH ALSO INFERS LONGER DURABILITY.