China develops iron battery 80 times cheaper than lithium that can last 16 years

A research team at the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has advanced “all-iron” flow battery technology. In particular, a newly formulated electrolyte facilitates thousands of charge-discharge cycles. It provides a budget-friendly, high-endurance answer for the world’s massive energy storage needs. The development solves the long-standing issues of material degradation and leakage (crossover) by re-engineering the iron complex at the molecular level. Cheaper alternative The high price disparity between raw materials is a main driver of this innovation, with lithium currently trading at over 80 times the cost of iron. The massive price gap makes...