A counter-flow-based dual-electrolyte protocol for multiple electrochemical applications

This paper reports a computational demonstration and analysis of an innovative counter-flow-based microfluidic unit and its upscaling network, which is compatible with previously developed dual-electrolyte protocols and numerous other electrochemical applications. This design consists of multidimensional T-shaped microchannels that allow the effective formation of primary and secondary counter-flow patterns, which are beneficial for both high-performance regenerative H2/O2 redox cells and flow batteries at a low electrolyte flow-rate operation. This novel design demonstrates the potential to achieve high overall energy throughput and reactivity because of the full utilization of all available reaction sites. A computational study on energy and pressure loss mechanism during scale-out is also examined, thereby advancing the realization of an economical electrolyte-recycling scheme.