Call for grants for industrial doctorates 2017 of the Community of Madrid (Ref: IND2017/AMB-7719).

Flow batteries are presented as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries in stationary applications due to their long lifetime, better cyclability and higher cost reduction potential. So far, the trend in this type of batteries has been to scale up to reach powers and capacities suitable to serve renewable generation plants or electricity distribution networks, i.e. in the MW and MWh range. In this research work, the main challenge is to move in precisely the opposite direction, miniaturising the technology to bring it to the micro-scale and there to take advantage of the improved performance expected from the application of microfluidics and the enormous potential of the industrial manufacture of microelectronic devices.

This is an industrial research project to obtain a flow battery with adequate power and energy to be coupled to a photovoltaic microinverter. It will be called microbattery not because of the power or energy, but because of the technologies used: micromechanics, microfluidics, microelectronics and microfabrication.

Participants: Micro Electrochemical Technologies; Institute IMDEA Energy.
Funding Entity/Programme: Community of Madrid/Industrial Doctorates 2017.
Programme period: April 2018-July 2021
Principal Investigator: Beatriz Oraá (Tutor: Dr. Jesús Palma)