Sodium-ion batteries have great promise. They’re energy dense, nonflammable, and operate well in colder temperatures, and sodium is cheap and abundant. Plus, sodium-based batteries will be more environmentally friendly and even less expensive than lithium-ion batteries are becoming now. Sodium-ion battery performance has been limited because of poor durability, but this is about to change for the better.
Sodium-ion battery breakthrough
A research team from the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has developed a sodium-ion battery with greatly extended longevity. The findings, published in the journal Nature Energy, provide a promising recipe for a battery that may one day power electric vehicles and store solar energy.
The researchers shifted the ingredients that make up the battery’s liquid core. That shift prevents performance issues that have caused trouble for previous sodium-based batteries.
PNNL lead author Jiguang (Jason) Zhang, a battery technologies pioneer with more than 23 patented inventions in energy storage technology, said:
Here, we have shown in principle that sodium-ion batteries have the potential to be a long-lasting and environmentally friendly battery technology.
As PNNL explains, in batteries, the electrolyte is the circulating “blood” that keeps the energy flowing. The electrolyte forms by dissolving salts in solvents, resulting in charged ions that flow between the positive and negative electrodes. Over time, the electrochemical reactions that keep the energy flowing get sluggish, and the battery can no longer recharge. In current sodium-ion battery technologies, this process happens much faster than in lithium-ion batteries.
The PNNL team attacked that problem by switching out the liquid solution and the type of salt flowing through it to create a new electrolyte recipe.
For the first time ever, scientists greatly extended the number of charging cycles (300 or more) with minimal loss of capacity (>90% retained) in a coin-sized battery in lab tests.
As PNNL explains, the current electrolyte recipe for sodium-ion batteries results in the protective film on the negative end (the anode) dissolving over time. This film is critical because it allows sodium ions to pass through while preserving battery life.
The PNNL-designed technology works by stabilizing this protective film. The new electrolyte also generates an ultrathin protective layer on the positive pole (the cathode) that contributes to additional stability of the entire unit.
Nonflammable technology
The PNNL researchers’ newly developed sodium-ion technology uses a naturally fire-extinguishing solution that is also impervious to temperature changes and can operate at high voltages. One key to this feature is the ultrathin protective layer that forms on the anode. This ultrathin layer remains stable once formed, providing the long cycle life reported in the research article.
Sodium-ion technology still currently lags behind lithium when it comes to energy density. But it still has its own unique advantages, such as temperature-change resistance, stability, and a long cycle life. Those advantages will prove to be valuable for applications of certain light-duty electric vehicles and even grid energy storage in the future.
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A new sodium-ion battery breakthrough means they may one day power EVs. Sodium-ion batteries have great promise. They're energy dense, nonflammable, and operate well in colder temperatures, and sodium is cheap and abundant.
Scientists have developed a battery capable of charging in just a few seconds. A team from South Korea made the breakthrough with next-generation sodium batteries, which are both cheaper and safer than the conventional lithium-ion batteries found in smartphones and electric cars.
In addition, one of the main disadvantages of sodium-ion batteries is that they have a low energy density compared to other popular batteries such as lithium batteries, so they can store less energy per unit weight.
In February 2023, JAC announced the first move to put the lithium-free sodium-ion battery on an electric vehicle. The vehicle turned out to be a Sehol E10X hatchback.
One of the major disadvantages of sodium-ion batteries is their relatively low energy density – the amount of energy stored relative to the battery's volume.
In May 2022, Natron Energy and Altris, respectively, announced the opening of new sodium-ion battery production facilities in the US and Sweden, with corresponding production beginning dates of 2023.
“Lithium metal anode batteries are considered the holy grail of batteries because they have ten times the capacity of commercial graphite anodes and could drastically increase the driving distance of electric vehicles,” the scientist noted.
Sodium-ion batteries simply replace lithium ions as charge carriers with sodium. This single change has a big impact on battery production as sodium is far more abundant than lithium. In fact, you can use salt from the oceans to extract sodium just about anywhere in the world.
According to Harvard associate professor of materials science Dr. Xin Li, solid-state batteries are the “holy grail.” Despite looking similar to lithium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries replace the commonly used liquid electrolyte with solid materials, such as high-tech ceramic.
In July 2021, a press conference in CATL pushed the sodium-ion battery technology from behind the scenes to the front of the stage. According to the plan of the CATL the sodium-ion battery industry chain will be built and industrialized in 2023.
Sodium batteries could become a viable alternative to lithium in some use cases. Sodium is significantly cheaper and easier to get at than lithium. There's room for both battery types, and using sodium could stabilize lithium prices.
Sodium-ion batteries are one of the most developed technologies today and have the potential to become a viable option in many battery applications in the near future. The initial commercial success of sodium-ion batteries indicates a potential for substantial growth in this segment.
Today, sodium ion batteries have roughly half the energy density of lithium ion batteries. That means shorter range, which is the opposite of what most people want in their electric cars. However, there are many markets in which people are more than happy to have lower range, especially if the price is right.
Recent advancements mean that sodium batteries are beginning to rival certain lithium-ion batteries, especially those using lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes. LFP batteries are cheaper but less energy-dense than other lithium-ion technologies.
NO, sodium batteries would not replace lithium batteries in short time. It is generally believed in the industry that sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries are COMPLEMENTARY to each other rather than substitutes.
Sodium-ion batteries can potentially be safer than lithium-ion batteries because sodium is more abundant and less prone to certain types of thermal runaway reactions. Lithium-ion batteries, while safe under normal conditions, have been known to catch fire or explode if damaged or subjected to extreme conditions.
One of the main advantages is their cost. The cost of Na-ion batteries is expected to be significantly lower than that of Li-ion batteries. This is around 40-80 USD/kWh for a Na-ion cell compared to an average of 120 USD/kWh for a Li-ion cell.
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