Rhubarb-Based Organic Battery

Jan-19-14 A new, inexpensive and high-capacity organic flow battery could be a breakthrough for renewable energy, making wind and solar power more economical and reliable.

Flow batteries store their energy in fluids contained in external tanks, and because the current technology relies on using expensive metals as electrolytes, the cost per kilo-watt hour of storage is quite high.

To provide a less expensive option, the team from Harvard took advantage of the electrochemistry of quinones—naturally abundant and inexpensive organic molecules similar to the molecules of plants and animals that store energy. Using quinones almost identical to those found in rhubarb, the team was able to create a metal-free flow battery that performs as well as current examples while using less expensive chemicals and no metals.

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