Granted Patent B2

US 12,308,414 · App. 16/913,877 · Granted May 20, 2025

Inventors: Eric Weber (Pittsburgh, PA); Mitchell Terrance Westwood (Boston, MA); Rachel Elizabeth Mumma (Somerville, MA); Alexander H. Slocum (Bow, NH); Liang Su (Medfield, MA); Jarrod David Milshtein (Arlington, MA); William Henry Woodford (Cambridge, MA); Yet-Ming Chiang (Weston, MA); Mateo Cristian Jaramillo (San Francisco, CA); Ian Salmon Mckay (Seattle, WA); Fikile Brushett (Cambridge, MA); Helen Van Benschoten (Wakefield, MA); Tristan Gilbert (Evergreen, CO); Nicholas Reed Perkins (Cambridge, MA); Joseph Anthony Pantano (Canton, MA); Weston Smith (Boston, MA); Kristen Carlisle (Medford, CA); Isabella Caruso (Boston, MA); Benjamin Thomas Hultman (Somerville, MA); Annelise Christine Thompson (Medford, MA); Danielle Smith (Cambridge, MA); Vladimir Tarasov (Brookline, MA); Katherine Hartman (Cambridge, MA); Andrew Haynes Liotta (Cambridge, MA); Onur Talu (Needham, MA); Marc-Antoni Goulet (Somerville, MA); Rupak Chakraborty (Brookline, MA); Florian Wehner (Brookline, MA); Bradley Mileson (South Portland, ME); Alexandra Rousseau (Aylesford, CA)

Assignee: FORM ENERGY, INC.

H01M12/02H01M12/08H01M2250/10

Abstract

Claims (26)

1. A battery, comprising:

an Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) electrode;

an Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) electrode;

a metal electrode; and

an electrolyte separating the ORR electrode and the OER electrode from the metal electrode, wherein

the ORR electrode is submerged in the electrolyte,

the ORR electrode comprises a series of discrete ORR electrode sections arranged vertically in a stack below a surface of the electrolyte, and

each discrete ORR electrode section has a respective geometry varying based on depth of the given discrete ORR electrode section below the surface of the electrolyte, and pressure drop across each one of the series of discrete ORR electrode sections arranged vertically in the stack is the same in a depth direction below the surface of the electrolyte.

2. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the ORR electrode and the OER electrode are separate electrodes.

3. The battery of claim 1 , further comprising a stackable vessel supporting the ORR electrode, the OER electrode, the metal electrode, and the electrolyte.

4. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the ORR electrode is wavy or rippled.

5. The battery of claim 1 , wherein a housing of the battery operates as a current conductor for the metal electrode.

6. The battery of claim 2 , wherein the ORR electrode and the OER electrode are submerged in the electrolyte.

7. The battery of claim 6 , wherein the ORR electrode is supported in a frame that displaces electrolyte to create a gas volume at a depth below a surface of the electrolyte.

8. The battery of claim 6 , wherein the ORR electrode comprises a box configuration filled with air.

9. The battery of claim 6 , wherein the ORR electrode is supplied air.

10. The battery of claim 9 , wherein the ORR electrode is curved.

11. The battery of claim 9 , wherein the ORR electrode is supported in a frame that traps the supplied air in an air chamber bounded by a surface of the ORR electrode.

12. The battery of claim 9 , wherein the ORR electrode is tube shaped.

13. The battery of claim 2 , wherein position of the metal electrode is changeable relative to the ORR electrode and to the OER electrode.

14. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the battery includes air flow regulation structures.

15. The battery of claim 14 , wherein the air flow regulation structures include arrays of ramps configured with holes therein.

16. The battery of claim 1 , wherein:

the OER electrode and ORR electrode are electrically separable by the presence or the absence of airflow flexing the ORR electrode to displace the ORR electrode.

17. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the ORR electrode further comprises a porous separator.

18. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the metal electrode includes a bed of direct reduced iron pellets.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (400)