Molten salt breakthrough or not?

[just Warren]

Sounds great to this non-scientist but is it really a game-changer?


And down in the comments is this by Catweazle:

I'm surprised no-one has rediscovered the old nickel-iron-alkali battery.

Cheap compared to Li batteries, manufactured from readily available, recyclable materials, very long life in excess of 20 years, robust - can stand to be overcharged or short circuited, holds its charge practically indefinitely, can be continuously trickle charged on standby, doesn't mind standing flat and doesn't rely on any fancy technology like molten salt, weird membranes or electrode trickery and can be utilised to create hydrogen.

Disadvantages are size, weight and poor fast charge/discharge capability, none of which matter for a large static location.

Okay, so why has this tech not been "rediscovered" and, and I bolded the part that's really confusing, isn't discharging it's main job? How is being poor at that not a disadvantage regardless of the type of use or the type of site it's at?

[bedlamite]

charge/discharge rate is usually a factor of capacity. If you need a higher rate, you just increase the size of the battery. Double the size of the battery will double the discharge current. That's a problem for most applications (a 5 lb phone isn't going to sell), but not for a static install where size and weight don't matter.

[just Warren]

But isn't there a practical limit on the size of the battery?

[Hawkmoon]

Disadvantages are size, weight and poor fast charge/discharge capability, none of which matter for a large static location.

I read that as "capability for fast charge and fast discharge." If it can't be discharged, it's of no use as a battery. However, not all applications require the use of the battery's total capacity right now.

[Jim147]

But can I get a phone powered by molten salt?

[just Warren]

Sure, from American Telegraph and Thorium.

[230RN]

The MIT team has discovered a different way of separating the electrodes, using a regular steel mesh coated with titanium nitride. Where the ceramic layer sorts molecules according to their physical size, using the size of holes in the porous ceramic material, the steel mesh uses its electrical properties instead to achieve the same result. And it's much more durable.

Somehow I'm reminded of Maxwell's Demon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon

Except read "charge carriers" instead of the fast and slow molecules of Maxwell's concept.

I wonder what property of TiNi they are taking advantage of?  Just "durability?"