Dissertation defence (Materials Engineering): MSc Vahid Abbasi

MSc Vahid Abbasi defends the dissertation in Materials Engineering titled “Biphasic Electrolytes and New Chemistries for Flow Batteries” at the University of Turku on 12 June 2026 at 13.00 (Aalto University, School of Chemical Engineering, Ke 1 Lecture Hall, Espoo).

Opponent: Professor Robert Dryfe (University of Manchester, UK)

Custos: Professor Pekka Peljo (University of Turku)

Summary of the Doctoral Dissertation:

Climate change necessitates urgent decarbonization, with renewable energy expansion placing new demands on grid stability. Energy storage, particularly flow batteries, plays a key role due to their ability to scale power and energy capacity independently. While vanadium-based electrolytes have dominated commercially, their cost and supply chain limitations motivate the search for alternatives.

This study investigates biphasic electrolytes as a platform for next-generation flow battery electrolytes, highlighting benefits such as enhanced cell voltage, improved solubility of redox-active species, and microemulsion formation that improves conductivity and stability. We further introduce lithium chloranilate as a candidate active species for alkaline conditions, operating through a two-electron redox mechanism to achieve competitive energy densities with electrochemically recoverable capacity fade.