Iron Flow Battery with Slurry Electrode for Large Scale Energy Storage: Scale-Up, Intellectual Property, and Commercialization Challenges

For large-scale energy storage, flow batteries present many advantages. These benefits include, but are not limited to, decoupling power rating from energy capacity and projected lower cost energy storage and long cycle life. Several reviews and a comprehensive handbook have come available recently describing the various flow battery chemistries and the details of cell and stack construction. However, none of the chemistries proposed are perfect and the commercialization path to widespread adoption remains challenging. For the purposes of this article, we will take a closer look at the concept and development of an all-iron slurry flow battery and the intellectual property (IP) protection and commercialization process that occurred within an academic environment.