Methylene blue consists of a blue dye used in the textile industry. A new study, published in mid-August 2018, reveals that the dye can be repurposed for use in redox flow batteries. After establishing that the chemical compound has electrochemical properties, chemists at the University of Buffalo divulged that, as an active ingredient, it can be used to store energy. In the textile industry, only about five percent of methylene blue is absorbed by fabrics and the rest produces large amounts of waste water that can be toxic to the environment. According to the University of Buffalo chemists Anjula M. Kosswattaarachchi and Timothy R. Cook, this waste water can be used by reducing the dye’s molecules to produce leuco-methylene blue through electricity generated by a power source. This process is reversible, which makes it a good fit in redox flow battery configurations as a green energy storage technology.

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