On October 22, the 2025 China Hydrogen Energy Industry Conference opened at the Qiaoshan Cultural Center in Nanhai, Foshan. Hosted by the China International Economic Exchange Center and organized by the People's Government of Nanhai District, Foshan City, this conference, with the theme of "Innovation Leading, Hydrogen Chain Global", brings together experts, scholars and industry leaders in the hydrogen energy field at home and abroad to jointly explore the path for the high-quality development of the future hydrogen energy industry. Dr. Xie Wei from ZH Energy was invited to attend the International Forum on Hydrogen Energy Technology of the Conference (October 23, Hall B) and delivered a keynote speech entitled "Development and Industrialization of PBI Fluorine-Free Proton Exchange Membrane for Flow Batteries".

Dr. Xie Wei stated that driven by the "dual carbon" goals, low-cost energy storage is the key to achieving carbon neutrality, and the demand for safe and long-duration energy storage is increasingly prominent. Based on current market pain points and industrial needs, ZH Energy  has been committed to developing economical and safe flow battery systems, making innovative breakthroughs in core components from stacks, proton exchange membranes to electrolytes one by one to improve performance and reduce costs.

Currently, the low-cost, high-performance fluorine-free proton exchange membrane (PBI flow battery membrane) jointly developed by ZH Energy  and Central South University has achieved important phased results and will soon be commercialized and mass-produced. At the technical level, the company has broken through the technical problem of material trade-off balance, innovatively developed the core technology of multi-level structure control for fluorine-free proton exchange membranes, and achieved flow battery performance that surpasses perfluorinated proton exchange membranes. At the commercial level, the price is more than 30% lower than that of mainstream perfluorinated membranes, significantly reducing system costs. At present, the product has entered pilot production and completed small-batch commercial delivery.

Performance Comparison Between PBI Flow Battery Membrane and Commercial Perfluorosulfonic Acid Membrane in Batteries

Under a current density of 220mA/cm², 5000-cycle Long-term Cycling Test of PBI Flow Battery Membrane

Compared with the commonly used proton exchange membranes in the current market, the PBI flow battery membrane has the following core advantages:

• Lower Cost: The price is more than 30% lower than that of mainstream perfluorinated membranes, significantly reducing the system cost;

• Better Performance: Key indicators (EE/CE) are comprehensively better than those of perfluorinated membranes, improving energy efficiency and revenue;

• Environmentally Friendly: Fundamentally eliminate perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) pollution, and it is green and degradable;

• Technological Leadership: Take the lead in realizing the commercial application and verification of non-fluorinated proton exchange membranes.

In the wave of energy transformation led by the "dual-carbon" goal, the Hydrogen Energy Industry Conference provides an important platform for global hydrogen chain cooperation and technological breakthroughs. Relying on its continuous deep cultivation in the core technology of flow batteries, ZH Energy has launched a PBI non-fluorinated proton exchange membrane with remarkable advantages such as low cost, high performance, and environmental friendliness, achieving a key leap from material innovation to commercial verification. This breakthrough is not only expected to significantly reduce the cost of energy storage systems and improve energy efficiency, but also marks that China is at the forefront of industrial application in the field of non-fluorinated proton exchange membranes, injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of the global hydrogen energy and energy storage industry.