More power, less cost! Transitioning to a renewable energy economy necessitates the deployment of large-scale energy storage, to which redox flow batteries are promising because they are easy to scale and have projected low costs. In this project, the researchers will develop new porous electrodes at the heart of the battery, based on polymer phase separation, to increase performance and decrease the cost.

The chemical industry needs to substitute fossil-based energy and resources by renewable energy and sustainable carbon feedstocks such as CO2 and biomass, to reduce environmentally harmful emissions stemming from fossil-derived carbon. To sustain the production of chemicals and materials that propel modern development, this research consortium of academic institutions, technology providers, and technology end-users will develop durable electrodes and electrochemical processes for conversion of carbon dioxide to platform chemicals based on formaldehyde, while simultaneously upgrading bio-acids into bio-chemicals. We will validate the feasibility of electrodes based on earth-abundant carbon, thus eliminating the necessity of critical elements.