The soluble lead redox flow battery has been proposed as an attractive candidate for high-capacity energy storage systems application, as an alternative to the established lithium ion and vanadium flow battery technologies, due to the lower cost of installation and operation. However, widespread acceptance of the battery is hindered by poor cycle life, among other factors. Operation of the battery involves deposition and dissolution of solid deposits on the electrodes during charging and discharging, respectively. The lead dioxide deposit on the anode has been reported to have poor adhesion, and peel off from the substrate, leading to non-recoverable loss in efficiency for the ongoing cycle, and thereby reducing cycle life. This work attempts to solve this problem wtih two different approaches. First is through a search for alternate electrode materials which would provide better adhesion to the first depostion layer of the active material, while still providing good electrochemical performance. The search for this alternate electrode material is being performed through first principle material property calculations. The other approach is to investigate the applicability of flexible materials as electrodes. The process of peeling away the deposit from the rigid graphite substrate has been theorized to be driven by the residual tensile stress after deposition. This stress could play a greater role as repeated cycles are performed and the structure of the deposit becomes more complex. In this study, an attempt has been made to study the impact of stress on the adhesion of deposit and consequent performance of the battery by using flexible electrode materials which would bend and conform under the effect of the deposit stress and prevent peeling away.
