Sodium Replaces Lithium In A New Type Of Battery

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Jul 31, 2024

Discover the future of battery technology as experts explore the shift from lithium to sodium. Solid-state batteries are poised to revolutionize energy storage with lower risks and higher efficiency. Delve into the historical rivalry between sodium and lithium, and learn how new manufacturing techniques may pave the way for sustainable energy solutions. With government support and innovative advancements, sodium solid-state batteries could play a vital role in our green energy landscape.

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INSIGHT

Solid-State Swap Boosts Safety And Range

Solid-state batteries replace flammable liquid electrolytes with solid materials to improve safety and energy density.
That swap could enable EVs to reach much longer ranges and safer household energy storage.

INSIGHT

Abundant Elements Replace Scarce Metals

The team aims to eliminate scarce elements like lithium, cobalt, and nickel by using abundant elements such as sodium, iron, and manganese.
Using rock-forming elements could drastically improve material availability and reduce mining impacts.

ADVICE

Plan Factory Redesign For Solid-State Scale

Developers should rethink factory processes because current gigafactories target lithium-ion and won't accept drop-in solid-state production.
Plan manufacturing reinvention early to meet scaling timelines for solid-state batteries.

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If nations are to meet their sustainable energy goals, experts argue that batteries will be a crucial part of the equation. Not only are batteries key for many technologies, they’ll also be necessary to meet energy demands with a power grid that is mainly supplied by renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Without batteries, power from those sources can’t be stored for use when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.

Right now, many technologies depend on lithium-ion batteries. While they certainly work well and have revolutionized mobile devices and electric vehicles, there are drawbacks. First, the lithium, cobalt, and nickel they require can only be found in some countries, and there have been accusations of unethical mining practices, including child labor. The mining and production processes also emit a large amount of CO2, and the batteries themselves can explode and cause fires, although these incidents are becoming less common.

A promising, greener solution to our battery needs could be something called a solid-state battery. Lithium-ion batteries conduct electricity through a liquid electrolyte solution, while solid-state batteries do so with solid materials, such as ceramic, glass, and sulfides. This means they have lower risk of fires, charge faster, have higher voltages, and can be recycled. However, their development has taken longer than expected, due to cost, production hurdles, and lack of large-scale, real-world testing.

Earlier this month, teams at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the University of California San Diego published a paper in Nature Energy demonstrating the world’s first anode-free, sodium-based, solid-state battery architecture, which can charge quickly and last for several hundred cycles. Its main ingredient, sodium, is much more abundant than lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which could mean more affordable and environmentally friendly batteries in the future.

Ira Flatow sits down with Dr. Y. Shirley Meng, a professor at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and chief scientist for energy storage science at Argonne National Laboratory, to talk about the advancement, and when we could expect to see these unique batteries in our devices.

Transcript for this segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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