Elliott lecture on electrolysis

Iron Electrolysis Journey: from Chemical Metallurgy Fundamentals to Industrialization

Iron and steel are at the basis of modern society and their affordable and environmentally respectable extraction and recycling is expected. A global population of 9 billion people by 2050 and societal issues such as mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions provide unique opportunities for the deployment of new technologies for metals extraction and processing. Anticipating affordability and deployment of sustainable electric power generation [1], the electrification and intensification of metals and mining industry processes is becoming a possibility. This seminar starts with reporting a methodology and analysis of existing commodity metal extraction processes from a CO 2 emissions, electricity and cost standpoint. In a second time, the results are used to put forth a set of metrics for alternative technologies based on electricity [2,3,4]. Finally, results for process scale-up in various electrolytes; aqueous alkaline [5,6,7], molten oxides [8] and sulfides [9] are reviewed, highlighting recent discoveries and acceleration toward industrial demonstration.

[1] A. Allanore, Contribution of Electricity to Materials Processing: Historical and Current Perspectives, JOM, 65(2),131, (2013)
[2] A. Allanore, Electrochemical Engineering for Commodity Metals Extraction, Electrochem. Soc. Interface, 26 (2),63-68, (2017)
[3] C. Stinn and A. Allanore, Estimating the Capital Costs of Electrowinning Process, Interface, 29, 44-49, (2020)
[4] A. Allanore, Features and Challenges of Molten Oxide Electrolytes for Metal Extraction, Journal of the
Electrochemical Society, 162(1), 13-22, (2015)
[5] A. Allanore, et al., Electrodeposition of Metal Iron from Dissolved Species in Alkaline Media, Journal of the
Electrochemical Society, 154(12), 187-193, (2007)
[6] A. Allanore, et al., Iron Metal Production by Bulk Electrolysis of Iron Ore Particles in Aqueous Media, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 155(9), 125-129, (2008)
[7] A. Allanore, et al., Observation and modeling of the reduction of hematite particles to metal in alkaline solution by electrolysis, Electrochimica Acta, 55, 4007-4013, (2010)
[8] A. Allanore, L. Yin & D. R. Sadoway, A New Anode Material for Oxygen Evolution in Molten Oxide Electrolysis. Nature, 497(7449), 353–356, (2013)
[9] K.E. Daehn, et al, Liquid Copper and Iron Production from Chalcopyrite, in the Absence of Oxygen. Metals, 12 (9), (2022) (https://doi.org/10.3390/met12091440)

Antoine Allanore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

Allanore is a Professor of Metallurgy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, currently recipient of the Heather N. Lechtman Chair. Professor Allanore received his higher education in Nancy (France) where he earned a chemical process engineer diploma from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques and a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. from Lorraine University. He joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2010 as a post-doctoral with Professor Sadoway, after several years of service as research engineer for ArcelorMittal (Ulcos project with Jean-Pierre Birat). In 2012, he was appointed the T.B. King Assistant Professor of Metallurgy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. He teaches thermodynamics and sustainable chemical metallurgy at both the undergraduate and graduate level. His research has led to several new process technologies that are currently under deployment either at MIT or around the world, including for the production of iron and steel by electrolysis without GHG emissions. He has been organizer of several TMS symposia dedicated to materials processing since 2012, and was a member of the editorial board of Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B between 2017 and 2023. He is the current Director of the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology (CMRAE) at MIT.