RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Mitigating capacity fading in aqueous organic redox flow batteries through a simple electrochemical charge balancing protocol A1 Páez, Teresa A1 Martínez Cuezva, Alberto A1 Marcilla, Rebeca A1 Palma, Jesús A1 Ventosa Arbaizar, Edgar K1 Química analítica K1 Chemistry, Analytic AB Aqueous organic redox flow batteries (AORFBs) have recently been attracting much attention due to their potential utilization as a sustainable solution for stationary energy storage. However, AORFBs have still to face various challenges to become a competitive technology to other mature redox flow batteries. Fading of the energy storage capacity upon cycling leading to insufficient lifetime is likely the most pressing issue. Several processes are contributing to this issue. Among the capacity fading promoters, the existence of side reactions such as water splitting and reactions related to oxygen reduction triggers an imbalanced state of charge for the catholyte and anolyte. Herein, a simple electrochemical balancing procedure is proposed and successfully demonstrated through the restoration of the oxidation states of the two half-cell solutions. The results reveal that it is possible to mitigate and even revert the effects of such side reactions, developing a useful method for mitigating the capacity fading and prolonging the cycling performance of AORFBs. In the two case studies, the implementation of this simple charging procedure leads to a remarkable 20-fold reduction of capacity fading (% h−1). The protocol is a general approach for redox flow batteries, easily implementable and inexpensive. PB Elsevier SN 0378-7753 YR 2021 FD 2021-11 LK http://hdl.handle.net/10259/6198 UL http://hdl.handle.net/10259/6198 LA eng NO European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 726217). The results reflect only the authors' view and the Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information they contain. The authors also acknowledge the financial support by the Spanish Government through the Research Challenges Programme (Grant RTI2018-099228-A-I00). E.V. thanks the MINECO for the financial support (RYC2018-026086-I). A.M.-C. thanks the MINECO for the financial support (RYC2017-22700). DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos RD 11-dic-2024