University of Oregon
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UO researchers use electrochemistry to decarbonize iron production
Using electrochemistry, University of Oregon researchers have developed a way to make iron metal for steel production without burning fossil fuels. The series of chemical reactions turns saltwater and iron oxide — cheap and abundant ingredients — into pure iron metal.
If scaled up, the process could help decarbonize one of the largest and most emissions-intensive industries worldwide. It might someday replace the carbon-spewing industrial blast furnaces currently used to produce the iron that feeds steel manufacturing. Importantly, the byproducts of the chemical reaction can all be repurposed. The sodium hydroxide that’s generated can go back into the reactor or be collected and used in carbon-capture technology. And chlorine is valuable in other industrial processes.