Low Cost Metal Electrodes Cheaper Iron Electrodes for Long-Duration Energy Storage

This patent describes low cost metal electrodes, a core component for batteries that store energy cheaply over many hours. It comes from Form Energy, Inc., an American company developing long-duration energy storage.

The Problem

As power grids take on more wind and solar energy, they need a way to store electricity for long stretches, carrying power from sunny or windy periods through days when generation is low. Lithium-ion batteries are excellent for short bursts but become very expensive when sized to deliver power for many hours or days, partly because of the cost of their materials. A promising alternative uses cheap, abundant iron as the active material, but making iron electrodes that perform well and last through many charge and discharge cycles, while keeping costs low, is difficult. The electrode’s structure, composition, and manufacturing all have to come together at a price low enough to make long-duration storage economic.

What This Invention Does

The patent describes low cost metal electrodes and ways of making them, aimed at long-duration storage batteries that use abundant metals such as iron. The IPC classifications point to battery electrodes and related electrochemical cells, including metal-air type systems. The filing sets out electrode compositions and structures, and manufacturing approaches, chosen to give good electrochemical performance and durability while using inexpensive, widely available materials and low cost production methods. By focusing on cutting the cost of the electrode, one of the largest cost drivers in a battery, the invention targets storage that can hold and release energy over many hours at a price that makes grid-scale, long-duration use practical.

Key Features

• Abundant materials. The electrodes are built from cheap, widely available metals such as iron.
• Low cost manufacture. Production methods are chosen to keep electrode costs down.
• Durability. Compositions and structures aim for good performance across many charge and discharge cycles.
• Long-duration focus. The electrodes suit batteries that store energy over many hours rather than minutes.
• Electrodes and methods. The filing covers both the electrode designs and how they are made.

Who Is Behind It

The applicant is Form Energy, Inc., a Massachusetts-based company developing multi-day energy storage based on iron chemistry for electricity grids. The filing lists a large team of inventors, including Jocelyn Marie Newhouse, Jarrod David Milshtein, William Henry Woodford, and Yet-Ming Chiang among others. This filing is a divisional application from an earlier related Australian application.

Why It Matters

Cheap, long-duration storage is one of the missing pieces for grids that rely heavily on renewable energy, and the cost of the electrode is central to whether such batteries make economic sense. Low cost iron-based electrodes could help make multi-day storage affordable at the scale grids require. Protecting the technology in Australia, a country investing heavily in renewables and storage, supports the company’s activities in the region.

Related Concepts

• Electrode – the battery component this invention makes cheaper.
• Grid energy storage – the large-scale application these batteries target.
• Metal-air electrochemical cell – a battery chemistry the classifications reference.
• Iron – the abundant, low cost metal used as the active material.
• Variable renewable energy – the wind and solar generation that drives demand for long storage.

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AU 2026201995 was published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents on 2 April 2026 and is open for public inspection. Patent applications represent inventions that are sought to be protected and do not necessarily reflect commercially available products.