Flow battery development news

[RedDevil]

Harvard have developed an new type of battery that can be fully discharged and recharged for thousands of times:
Long-lasting flow battery could run for more than a decade with minimum upkeep | Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Key element is the application of ferrocene, which is usually insoluble and can only be used with highly toxic and reactive battery chemistries.

But by functionalizing ferrocene molecules the same way as the viologen, the team was able to turn an insoluble molecule into a highly soluble one that could be cycled stably.

“Because we were able to dissolve the electrolytes in neutral water, this is a long-lasting battery that you could put in your basement,” said Gordon. “If it spilled on the floor, it wouldn’t eat the concrete and since the medium is noncorrosive, you can use cheaper materials to build the components of the batteries, like the tanks and pumps.”

An older one, utilizing vitamins:
A battery inspired by vitamins | Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

If you are to emit carbon dioxide anyway, it can be put to use like this:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00467

This is not a battery in the usual sense but a nice 'free' power harvesting mechanism anyway.

[freebeard]

Or, a flow battery in the usual sense with a free source of electrolyte?

Here's a Potland, OR high school kid showing how to desalinate seawater:

Portland teen discovers cost-effective way to turn salt water in - KPTV - FOX 12

By experimenting with a highly absorbent polymer, the teen discovered a cost effective way to remove salt from ocean water and turn it into fresh water.

"It's not bonding with water molecules, it's bonding to the salt," said Karamchedu.
....
"People were concentrated on that 10 percent of water that's bonded to the salt in the sea and no one looked at the 90 percent that was free. Chai just looked at it and said if 10 percent is bonded and 90 percent is free, then why are we so focused on this 10 percent, let's ignore it and focus on the 90."

It's a breakthrough that's estimated to impact millions of lives if ever implemented on a mass scale.