Manufacture of sponge iron electrodes from mill scale iron for use in iron-air batteries

Principal investigators: Ramakrishnan Rajagopalan and William Yourey

University: Pennsylvania State University - Dubois

Industry partner: Metal Tech, Inc.

The proposed research in collaboration with MetalTech, Inc. focuses on developing an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manufacturing process to produce sponge iron electrodes, a value-added product derived from recycling and processing of mill scale waste for use in iron-air batteries. Iron-air batteries are one of the most promising cost-effective and reliable energy storage technologies that are readily scalable and can meet the requirements of grid storage application. The project will provide sustainable powder metallurgical solutions for both the reuse and processing of mill scale waste as well as scalable production of battery grade sponge iron powders with good electrochemical performance. The electrochemical performance of the processed sponge iron powders for the mill scale waste that include specific capacity, cyclability and charging efficiency will be measured and benchmarked against the state-of-the-art electrode materials available for iron/air battery application.