I'll be honest, I have a tendency to nerd out about stuff and not really take action on it, so every once in a while I push myself to BUILD the battery, because AI can "brainstorm" all day, but can't build a battery
So after reading some research papers on Iron-Chromium battery, I decided to build one, but this time I wanted to get some visual result, something a 5 year old kid can recognize, I had to light up an LED, but a single of Iron-Chromium battery has voltage of 1 Volt. That doesn't do anything. So I had to build another cell stack to get 2 V, this easily lights up a Red LED .
Making the Stack
So ordered the 3D printed parts from online shop, I already had Iron chloride from my all iron build, I ordered Chromium Chloride (very cheap, very easily available, order online). If you want to know how to build it you can see my previous post.
Since I already had a leak proof cell, making another one was not really a problem I just used some RO fittings and joined them, connected negative of one to positive of another and VOILA, a 2 cell stack.
2 cell stack made on 23rd April 2026
So I started charging it, connected to a buck booster with 12 V 2 amps adapter in the input and tuned the output to 2.5V and 0.3 amps using a multimeter. The plan was to disconnect the charger every hour and connect the stack to an red LED to check if it lights up.
1 hour in - Nothing
2 hours in - Nothing
3 hours in- Nothing
3 hours, 2.5 volts and 0.3 amps should have given the stack 2.25 Wh of energy, even if i assume energy losses of 50 % (which is awful by the way) the stack should still have at least 1 Wh of energy, that's like 3.6 kJ, more than enough to light up an LED. The I remembered one of the biggest flaws of Iron Chromium battery, one which I had THOUGHT about, but never SEEN.
Chromium Kinetics
Remember how chromium forms Cr6+ in water and becomes stable ? This problem can be solved by heating to 65°C, but I don't have an oven, nor can this battery be heated first, that was one of the reason to leave it in the first place, but this time I had read a research paper.
Temporary Solution-
Gemini suggested the solution that early NASA scientists used, Bismuth Chloride, a bit expensive (Rs.1300 or $13). But I had ordered it anyways because I knew this was a proven solution to a known problem (thanks to Gemini). So I added some Bismuth chloride in acid to dissolve it, and added the shot to my electrolyte.
1 hour later - NOTHING
If 6 months battery research, testing and tinkering has taught me anything, its you can't rely on Gemini for everything. So I had already found some papers that were recently published but I didn't think I would have to use them so quickly. So here's the latest research breakthrough science gives us to one of the oldest problems in Iron-Chromium battery.
Salt
Yep, you read that right, in recently published research, this paper shows that addition of compounds like LiCl, Nacl and KCl help with kinetics of chromium by making it into Cr5+, which is a tad bit easier to charge.
Simply put, add table salt to battery. So....... I did
And IT WORKED.
None of this is AI generated, so feel free to fact check me and looking forward to your views and help.
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