Ionic liquid redox flow membraneless battery in microfluidic system

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) often require the presence of a physical membrane to separate the two compartments of the battery. The objective of this work is to develop a membraneless microfluidic redox flow battery (RFB) by using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (C(2)mimTFSI) as support electrolyte in which Quinone (Q) and iron chloride (FeCl2) have been used as negolyte (or anolyte) and posolyte (or catholyte), respectively. Polarization curve and cyclic voltammetry were used to characterize the electrochemical properties of the electrochemical systems as well as the performance of the microbattery. The proof-of-concept of the system is presented with an open circuit potential of 0.6 V, obtained with both polarization curve and cyclic voltam-metry, and with a current density ranging from 0.3 to 0.65 mA.cm(-2) for total flow rates of 10 to 20 mu L.min(-1). A maximum power of 40 mu Wcm (2) has been obtained with this microbattery.