The current all-vanadium liquid flow energy storage battery was designed and developed by the vanadium resource clean utilization team of Wuhan University of Science and Technology. Its cycle life exceeds 20,000 times, which is more than 10 times that of lithium batteries. The key breakthrough lies in the fact that the team increased the concentration of vanadium in the electrolyte to 2.4 moles. To put it simply, previously, a large water tank was needed to store one unit of electricity, but now it only requires half the volume. 

Liu Tao, the dean of the School of Resources and Environmental Engineering at Wuhan University of Science and Technology: For example, at a concentration of 1.6 moles, it can typically power the basic electrical appliances in our current room for about 10 hours. If we further increase the concentration of the vanadium solution to 2.4 moles, it can last for 17 to 18 hours. 

The higher the concentration, the denser the energy, but vanadium ions are also more prone to "getting angry" and precipitate out in the battery, just like blood clots in blood vessels. This not only blocks the "channels" but also shortens the battery's lifespan. The team abandoned the traditional sulfuric acid system and innovatively introduced a composite acid system and sugar additives, which is equivalent to adding a "stabilizer" to the electrolyte. 

Liu Tao, the dean of the School of Resources and Environmental Engineering at Wuhan University of Science and Technology: By effectively enhancing the performance of vanadium batteries, the temperature stability range can be expanded from -20°C to 50°C even when the vanadium concentration is increased. 

Zhang Yimin, Director of the Provincial-Ministerial Jointly Constructed Collaborative Innovation Center for Strategic Vanadium Resource Utilization at Wuhan University of Science and Technology: The preparation of vanadium electrolyte solutions in many systems. Currently, we are developing a chlorine-sulfur system, which is expected to be superior to others in terms of price and efficiency. 

High-concentration electrolyte cannot be produced without high-purity raw materials. China has 90% of the world's reserves of vanadium shale, and Hubei ranks third in the country. However, the local ore has a low grade and the vanadium content is only 0.7%. Purification is like "picking gold from sand". The team from Wuhan University of Science and Technology spent 40 years working on it and developed a "one-step" short-process clean production technology, which increased the vanadium purity to 99.9%. This has paved the way for the mass production of high-concentration electrolyte. Currently, 2.0 molar concentration electrolyte has achieved engineering-scale production, and the cumulative economic benefits created by the entire industrial chain have exceeded 14.5 billion yuan.