Eco-friendly Energy Storage System: Seawater and Ionic Liquid Electrolyte
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 29, 2026

A Protocol for Electrochemical Evaluations and State of Charge Diagnostics of a Symmetric Organic Redox Flow Battery
Published on: February 13, 2017
Jae-Kwang Kim1,2, Franziska Mueller3,4,5, Hyojin Kim1
1School of Energy & Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 689-798, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
As existing battery technologies struggle to meet the requirements for widespread use in the field of large-scale energy storage, novel concepts are urgently needed concerning batteries that have high energy densities, low costs, and high levels of safety. Here, a novel eco-friendly energy storage system (ESS) using seawater and an ionic liquid is proposed for the first time; this represents an intermediate system between a battery and a fuel cell, and is accordingly referred to as a hybrid rechargeable cell. Compared to conventional organic electrolytes, the ionic liquid electrolyte significantly enhances the cycle performance of the seawater hybrid rechargeable system, acting as a very stable interface layer between the Sn-C (Na storage) anode and the NASICON (Na3 Zr2 Si2 PO12) ceramic solid electrolyte, making this system extremely promising for cost-efficient and environmentally friendly large-scale energy storage.
Related Concept Videos
Batteries and Fuel Cells
Electrochemical Systems
Electrochemical Cells
Voltaic/Galvanic Cells
Spontaneous redox reactions occur abundantly in nature. The chemical reaction occurring in a disposable AA battery powering our remote controls is one such example of a spontaneous redox reaction. Another example is the immersion of coiled copper wire into an aqueous silver nitrate solution. The reaction shows a gradual, visually impressive color change from colorless to bright blue and the formation of a grey precipitate on the copper wire. In this experiment,...
Electrolysis
DC Battery

