Scaling‐Up Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries: From Lab‐Scale Flow Cells to Application Stacks

ABSTRACT

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) represent a highly attractive technology for grid‐scale energy storage, featuring inherent safety, superior electrochemical reversibility, decoupled power‐energy configuration, and long‐duration service life. However, most existing studies on key components including the electrode, electrolyte, membrane and flow field focus on performance optimization in lab‐scale flow cells, while scaling‐up investigations for practical stacks remain insufficient. During the scaling‐up process, component optimization involves critical trade‐offs, including membrane proton conductivity versus vanadium ion permeability and shunt‐current suppression versus pumping loss. This review analyzes the scale‐dependent characteristics, challenges, and modification strategies of VRFBs, aiming to bridge the gap between laboratory flow cells and application stacks. The review not only outlines diverse modification strategies developed for each core component in flow cells, but also summarizes several engineering considerations such as the manufacturing and recycling processes of components and the integration of management systems in dedicated parts, underlining the targets of sustainability and cost‐effectiveness for stacks. Finally, forward‐looking perspectives are put forward to deliver strategic references for the next‐generation deployment of VRFBs. It is expected that this review can make contributions to further progress and practical application for scalable VRFBs.