Two years ago, the PNNL research team found that a naturally occurring compound called fluorenone could improve the energy storage capacity of flow batteries. The team soon discovered that using Fluorenone impacted the energy storage process since it was much slower than commercially available methods.
The researchers then further experimented with the ratio of chemicals in the electrolyte till they achieved a 60 percent increase in peak power. More importantly, the team also found that adding sugar minimized the loss of capacity common with batteries. Moreover, it will help create a low-cost energy storage solution that does not use toxic chemicals. The most significant advantage of this discovery is that it will help the researchers deploy the flow battery for many applications, given that it is now comparable to commercially available solutions.