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- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received August 4, 2026
Accepted September 3, 2026
Available online October 25, 2026
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Unveiling the Anion Eff ect of Potassium Salts on Lawsone-Based Anolytes for Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-026-00823-y
Abstract
Aqueous organic redox flow batteries (AORFBs) attract a significant attention for large-scale energy storage systems
owing to their intrinsic safety, low cost, and design flexibility. Among various organic redox couples, 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone
(Lawsone) and ferrocyanide (FeCN) combination exhibits a promising electrochemical performance. However,
its practical application is hindered by capacity decay arising from side reactions occurring under strongly alkaline
conditions. Although chemical modification of Lawsone proposes to improve cycling stability, such approaches generally
require complex synthesis and increase material cost. In this work, supporting electrolyte composition is adjusted to alleviate
the strongly alkaline environment without modifying the active material. Specifically, hydroxide is partially replaced
with chloride to reduce alkalinity of electrolyte and the effects of potassium salt anions on electrochemical behavior and
battery performance of Lawsone anolyte is investigated. Contrary to the initial expectation, conventional 1 M KOH electrolyte
exhibits superior electrochemical kinetics, leading to higher capacity utilization and improved cycling stability than
the mixed electrolyte (0.8 M KCl+0.2 M KOH). AORFB employing 1 M KOH retains 72% of its initial capacity after
100 cycles, whereas mixed electrolyte preserves only 42%. These findings indicate that electrochemical performance is
governed not only by electrolyte alkalinity but also by the nature of supporting electrolyte anion.

