US Patent 9293796 Metal-air battery with dual electrode anode

This disclosure describes metal air battery devices with an anode structure having a plurality of electrodes. An anode is disclosed having a metal source as well as a current collector that together function as an active, reversible, working anode. The source is used for metal-ions that are stripped and stored in the current collector. At this point the current collector contains the metal-ions to be propagated through the rest of the device. Metal-ions may be stripped from and deposited on the current collector, while metal-ions may only be stripped from the source. Upon use of the device metal-ions may be lost to the system for a variety of reasons. To counteract the loss of metal-ions, the current collector is replenished of metal-ions from the source.