Quinone grid battery now close to commercial availability
grid battery, Quino Energy, photovoltaics, new technology
US startup Quino Energy has raised more than $7,8 million to advance its quinone redox flow battery technology. Researchers at Harvard University and the University of Cambridge came up with the initial research on the design of the battery.
American startup Quino Energy, a spinoff of Harvard University, said it recently raised $3,3 million from a group of investors led by Japanese venture capital firm Anri. The amount raised through the funding round, in which Argentina's Techint Group also participated, will be in addition to the $4,58 million grant Quino Energy previously secured from the US Department of Energy (DoE).
The company said it will use the funds to upgrade technology batteries of redox flow based on 2,6-dihydroxy-anthraquinone (DHAQ) – or more simply, anthraquinone or quinone.
"Harvard's Office of Technology Development (OTD) has granted Quino Energy an exclusive, worldwide license to commercialize energy storage systems using lab-determined chemistry, including quinone or hydroquinone compounds as active materials in the electrolyte," the startup said. "Quino's founders believe the system can deliver game-changing advantages in cost, security, stability and power."
The company designed the battery based on previous research conducted by 16 scientists from Cambridge University and Harvard University. Quinone as an active material in the electrolyte eliminates the typical decomposition of chemically labile redox active species in redox flow batteries, which is the main factor affecting the storage capacity of such storage devices.
In the redox flow battery, DHAQ slowly degrades over time, regardless of how many times the battery has been cycled. When it comes into contact with air, after one cycle, this molecule absorbs oxygen and returns to its original state.
For this reason, the researchers refer to the molecule as a "zombie quinone," as it comes back to life after death. They said that redox flow batteries developed through this approach could offer a net lifetime that is 17 times longer than previous research has shown.
“For stable grid-scale storage, you want to be able to run your city all night and when the wind isn't blowing, without burning fossil fuels. You might go two or three days without wind in a typical weather pattern, and you'll certainly go eight hours without sunshine, so a five- to 20-hour rated discharge duration can be very useful,” said Quino Energy. "That's the sweet spot for flow batteries, where we think they can be very competitive against shorter-lived lithium-ion batteries."
