[freebeard]

I was wondering whatever happened to liquid tin batteries. I was thinking of this:
www.internationaltin.org/liquid-tin-bismuth-battery-for-grid-scale-energy-storage/

A team at University of Kentucky have patented a liquid metal battery using tin and bismuth electrodes, with molten zinc chloride, for grid-scale energy storage.

...
LMB batteries will support small-scale power grids linked to wind and solar power particularly. They are made relatively simply from commodity metals and so don’t rely on economies of scale to reduce costs. Importantly they are not subject to the same issues of degradation and dendrite formation that limit the life of traditional batteries, giving them potential for unprecedented operational life, possible of up to 20 years. They may outperform conventional technologies including lithium-ion and flow cell because of their unique design, fast charging, high rate capability, long life and manufacturing scalability.

But the technology has been superceded by another
hackaday.com/2024/01/08/liquid-tin-could-be-the-key-to-cheap-plentiful-grid-storage/

The energy recovery process itself is quite unlike most traditional heat storage concepts. When the grid needs energy, liquid tin is pumped around the hot graphite blocks, which heats it up to 2,400 C. The tin is then run through thin graphite tubes, which glow white-hot as it passes through. The light emitted is then turned into electricity by thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells. They’re essentially similar to solar cells, but they’re fine-tuned to most efficiently generate electricity from the wavelengths output by the graphite in this specific application. Through development, these cells have reached efficiency levels competitive with steam turbines when it comes to turning heat into electricity. The cells are designed to harvest the most high-energy wavelengths of light output by the hot graphite pipes, while reflecting back the rest so that the liquid tin remains as hot as possible.

Which sounds pretty good until you hear that Bill Gates has money behind it.

Interesting Engineering
URL="https://interestingengineering.com › innovation › bill-gates-liquid-tin-energy"]Bill Gates' fund backs liquid tin energy storage startup[/URL]
Dec 15, 2023Bill Gates' fund backs startup offering liquid tin energy storage. Boston-based Fourth Power receives $19 million to develop its technology and for a 1 MWh-e prototype facility.