Microporous Membranes Team

Winner: 2023 Materials Chemistry Horizon Prize: Stephanie L Kwolek Prize

For the development of ion-conducting polymers of intrinsic microporosity and applications as next-generation membranes in redox flow batteries for grid-scale energy storage.

Celebrate Microporous Membranes Team

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A team of chemists and engineers from Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh have collaborated on the development of a new generation of ion-conducting membranes based on polymers of intrinsic microporosity and demonstrated their exceptional performance in organic-based redox flow batteries (RFB) chemistries.

RFBs are a promising grid-scale energy storage technology for the integration of electricity generated from intermittent renewables into the power grid. Membranes are a crucial component in flow batteries, allowing the conduction of charge-carrier ions but minimizing the crossover of redox-active species, and they contribute up to 40% of the RFB capital cost. Commercial Nafion membranes are widely used, but they are expensive, poorly selective towards redox-active molecules and are produced by environmentally damaging processes that involve the use of poly-fluoroalkyl substances, known as forever chemicals.

Drawing on their complementary expertise in organic chemistry, computational modelling, membrane science and engineering and electrochemical engineering, the team developed an extended family of novel membranes with highly interconnected sub-nanometre pores which serve as effective sieves and enable low ionic resistance and ultrahigh size-based selectivity towards ionic and molecular species.

These microporous membranes possess an unprecedented ion transport performance that surpasses those of all existing membranes reported in literature. These high-performance membranes allow the improvement of power density and energy efficiency by 20% and have a predicted useful lifetime of over 30 years, while the significantly lower membrane cost provides step-changing opportunities towards more economically competitive battery systems.

Combining experimental and computational techniques, the team has successfully established a fundamental correlation between polymer structure and transport functions, which may serve as design rules for the development of further materials for a broad range of energy and environmental processes.

We’re thrilled our work to develop a new generation of ion-exchange membranes is being recognised. These microporous membranes can be used for a variety of applications, including in the storage of renewable energy, and so they have the potential to make a real positive impact in the fight against climate change.

The team

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Alberto Alvarez-Fernandez, Postdoctoral Researcher, University College London
C. Grazia Bezzu, Research fellow, University of Edinburgh
Nigel P. Brandon, Professor, Imperial College London
Charlotte Breakwell, PhD student, Imperial College London
Linjiang Chen, Research Fellow, University of Liverpool
Samantha Y. Chong, Lecturer, University of Liverpool
Andrew I. Cooper, Professor, University of Liverpool
Barbara Primera Darwich, MSc student, Imperial College London
Zhiyu Fan, PhD student, Imperial College London
Clare P. Grey, Professor, University of Cambridge
Stefan Guldin, Professor, University College London
Elwin Hunter-Sellars, PhD student, Imperial College London
Edward Jackson, PhD student, Imperial College London
Kim E. Jelfs, Professor, Imperial College London
Peter A. A. Klusener, Domain lead (redox flow battery technology), Shell
Anthony R. Kucernak, Professor, Imperial College London
Tao Li, Professor, Northern Illinois University/ Argonne National Laboratory
Tao Liu, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Cambridge
Dezhi Liu, PhD student, Imperial College London
Jiaxin Lu, MRes student, Imperial College London
Richard Malpass-Evans, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Edinburgh
Neil B. McKeown, Professor, University of Edinburgh
Qilei Song, Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London
Rui Tan, PhD student, Imperial College London
Lukas Turcani, PhD student, Imperial College London
Anqi Wang, PhD student, Imperial College London
Xiaochu Wei, PhD student, Imperial College London
Rhodri Williams, PhD student, University of Edinburgh
Daryl R. Williams, Professor, Imperial College London
Chunchun Ye, PhD student, University of Edinburgh
Evan Wenbo Zhao, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Cambridge
Xiaoqun Zhou, Undergraduate student, Imperial College London

Q&A

What were the biggest challenges in this project?

Qilei Song: Gaining a molecular level understanding of the membranes’ structures and establishing the relationship between polymer structures and transport properties was certainly challenging, as was establishing their functions in battery devices. We knew it wasn’t enough to simply make membranes, we needed to make the membranes work in the device, and we kept this objective front of mind throughout the project.

What different strengths did different people bring to the team?

Qilei Song: Our fantastic team is made up of scientists and engineers with a range of complementary specialisms in everything from synthetic chemistry to computational chemistry, membrane science and engineering, materials characterization, device engineering, electrochemistry and electrochemical engineering.

Why is this work so important and exciting?

Anqi Wang: The material design principles demonstrated by our team mark a significant advancement in the development of flow battery membranes, which is very exciting.

Where do you see the biggest impact of this technology/research being?

Qilei Song: Our research will support the storage of renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar, and therefore help global efforts to combat climate change as we shift away from fossil fuels.

How will this work be used in real life applications?

Qilei Song: Our newly developed microporous polymer membranes show great promise for the development of inexpensive electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies with a long lifetime and could make a real difference to the energy transition.

How do you see this work developing over the next few years, and what is next for this technology/research?

Qilei Song: We are in close contact with potential industry partners and exploring commercialisation opportunities, so we hope to see the application of our membranes in real life electrochemical devices soon.

What inspires or motivates your team?

Rui Tan: Our team is passionate about putting our skills and experience to use to help solve global challenges such as climate change, but we are also driven by a desire to train undergraduate and master students, so they can learn more about microporous membranes and all their useful qualities.

What is the importance of collaboration in the chemical sciences?

Kim Jelfs: By working together as a team, we can achieve more collectively than any one of us could individually, and it’s also fun to learn from one another.

Collaboration between chemists and engineers in particular allows for a greater appreciation of the relationship between chemical structure and material function. I believe this type of interdisciplinary cooperation will be key to future breakthroughs.

What does good research culture look like or mean to you?

Qilei Song: A collaborative and inclusive environment is key to good research culture so that each team member has the support they need to fulfil their potential.