Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have designed a new battery testing system that requires less material, potentially leading to quicker analysis of potential new battery materials. 

The new mini high-efficiency flow cell design and initial results are described in an article published in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, according to a release. The PNNL team designed the new system to require significantly less starting material while delivering results equal to the standard lab-scale test systems, all with the intent to speed the time to discovery of new grid energy storage technology. 

“Currently, we have to prepare a lot of material when we identify a promising new battery formula, and this takes a lot of time,” said materials scientist and flow battery researcher Ruozhu Feng in a release. “With this mini flow cell process, we can figure out whether a proposed new material works with only a tiny amount—milligrams—available.” 

The redesigned mini flow cell closely mimics the internal structure of a traditional flow cell, scaled down by a factor of 5. But, despite its smaller size, the mini flow cell exhibits comparable performance to its larger counterpart. 

However, the new testing system requires highly purified starting materials that are free from impurities that could otherwise clog its narrow channels and tubes.