Flow-nano srl

Flow-nano is a start-up that emerged in June 2023 from the company X-nano, an IP Company focused on nanotechnology-based solutions for the successful deployment of the energy transition and originated from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), one of the major Italian R&D institutions. Our mission is to deliver groundbreaking nanostructured electrodes to the growing sector of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB). With our solution we address the problem of integrating renewable energy sources and ensuring grid reliability from the perspective of mitigating climate change, achieving energy independence, and creating a more resilient and sustainable energy future. It is a primary objective to unlock a new market segment by supporting the growth and development of the Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) sector through the provision of essential tools and innovations for the green energy transition. We envision ourselves as catalysts for the change.

By providing innovative, competitive, high-performance electrodes for vanadium redox-flow batteries, we anticipate a rapid growth trajectory of the industry and expect our solution to become a new standard for VFRB, which will, in turn, establish itself as the industry benchmark for LDES. This positions us as the “go-to choice” for VRFBs manufacturers seeking to produce high-performance, efficient and long-duration storage systems. The initial application focus for our technology is on Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFB) because Vanadium batteries are currently the most technologically advanced RFBs, thus promising more immediate market deployment. However, our technology is characterized by its versatility, which is why our market strategy will expand beyond Vanadium. By strategically diversifying our focus to include various battery chemistries, we aim to expand our TAM. This approach ensures that as our technology and business model mature, we can capture a broad market share and continue our expansion.

We developed a system to functionalize electrodes with superior features that enable up to three-fold increase in VRFB power making them the most cost-effective solution for the long and ultra-long duration energy storage of electricity. With our electrodes, we overcome the main VRFB weakness of the high power cost, strongly related to the use of non-optimise electrodes. 

Thanks to our process, defected and turbostratic carbon nano-onions are deposited onto a standard electrode to obtain a stable coating of nano-catalysts, strongly adhering the fibres and increasing by orders of magnitude both the active surface area and the electrochemical activity of the material. We ensure high reaction rate at the electrode surface, that is the key operating parameter, allowing the battery to operate at higher current density and hence higher power density. Flow-nano technology is based on a patented deposition technique (NanoJeD Technology) that together with a vacuum annealing step produces the nanostructured electrodes. Compared with standard VRFBs, with our technology we increase the current density up to 0.3 A/cm2 against the 0.1 A/cm2 currently achieved. The higher current density will lead to the decrease of the specific cost per kW installed, positively impacting our direct customers, that are identified in the VRFB manufacturers. Moreover, with our technology we decrease the Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) offering to the end-users an extremely cost-effective solution.