Iron-air batteries operate through a reversible rusting process where iron reacts with oxygen from air to generate electricity, then reverses during charging.
How It Works
- Discharging:
- Anode: Iron oxidizes to iron ions (Fe → Fe²⁺ + 2e⁻).
- Cathode: Oxygen reacts with water and electrons to form hydroxide ions (½O₂ + H₂O + 2e⁻ → 2OH⁻).
- Electrolyte: Hydroxide ions migrate to the anode, forming iron hydroxide (rust).
- Charging: An external current reverses the reaction, converting rust back to iron.
Advantages
- Cost: Uses abundant iron and air, making them 10× cheaper than lithium-ion.
- Duration: Provides 100 hours of storage (vs. lithium-ion’s 4 hours), ideal for multi-day renewable energy gaps.
- Sustainability: Eliminates lithium’s water-intensive mining and contamination risks.
- Scalability: Designed as modular “power blocks” for grid storage, complementing lithium-ion for peak demands.
Limitations
Slow recharge rates and large physical size limit use to grid-scale applications, not portable electronics or EVs. Current projects like Form Energy’s West Virginia plant aim to deploy these batteries by 2024.
Original article by NenPower, If reposted, please credit the source: https://nenpower.com/blog/how-does-iron-air-battery-technology-work-and-what-are-its-advantages/
