Nonaqueous redox flow battery electrolyte comprising an ionic liquid with a metal cation coordinated to redox-active ligands

Nonaqueous redox flow batteries (RFB) hold the potential for high energy density grid scale storage, though are often limited by the solubility of the redox-active species in their electrolytes. A systematic approach enables an increase the concentration of redox-active species in electrolytes for nonaqueous RFB, starting from a metal-coordination-cation-based ionic liquid. As an example, starting with an ionic liquid consisting of a metal coordination cation (MetIL), ferrocene-containing ligands and iodide anions can be substituted into the original MetIL structure, enabling a nearly 4× increase in capacity compared to original MetIL structure. Application of this strategy to other chemistries, optimizing electrolyte melting point and conductivity could yield >10 M redox-active electrons.