A Membrane Based on Sulfonated Polystyrene for a Vanadium Solid-Salt Battery

An ion exchange membrane (IEM) usually serves as a separator between the two half-cells and provides an ionic conduction path in redox flow batteries. The new vanadium solid-salt battery (VSSB) presents higher energy density than the traditional vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). However, present IEMs are based on very expensive Nafion® membranes. In pursuit of lower cost, a membrane from sulfonated polystyrene (PE-01) is used for VSSB. In comparison with the traditional Nafion® 1135, PE-01 shows high energy efficiency with good cycling performance at current densities less than 10 mA cm−2. This suggests that sulfonated polystyrene membrane is a promising candidate as separator for VSSB.