Background
Energy storage (storage, and on-demand release of electrons) is a major impediment facing development of on-site generation and use of energy. Energy storage is also important in the use of portable electronic devices for use in the field. Non-aqueous redox flow batteries (NRFB) represent a battery technology that easily scales because power and energy densities are decoupled by virtue of their design. Fundamental studies of electron delocalization and electron transfer in mixed-valent molecules inform the development of technologies such as molecular electronics devices, molecular wires and NRFB’s. However application of this fundamental electron transfer theory in the field of NRFB is not routinely employed.
Project Goals
- To further understand the interplay between molecular structure and ligand electronic coupling in mixed-valent systems, by synthesis of new molecules and characterization of their mixed-valent electronic structures.
- To test the suitability of the metal coordination complexes for performance under the conditions of a NRFB.
Principal Investigator: Louise Berben
Graduate Students: Amela Arnold, Cody Carr (military)
Undergraduate Students: Christina Jumalon (military), Isaiah Lane (military), Spivey McClane
