Like lithium batteries that power cell phones to laptops, sodium batteries also move ions between two electrodes when the device is charged and worn.
An inexpensive and abundant ingredient like salt may have a lot to offer the world of science. One area where it can play a role is in chemistry battery. Utilizing salt can help us avoid much of the expense and difficulty of obtaining the rarer lithium. Chinese company CATL wants to take the lead by launching its first commercial sodium-ion battery.
Like battery lithium that powers cell phones to laptops, sodium batteries also move ions between two electrodes when the device is charged and worn. But sodium-ion presents some problems that lithium-ion doesn’t. Ions are larger in size, and tend to create impurities that can shorten battery life. Also, they don’t offer the tried and trusted energy density of lithium.
Reported from New Atlas (2/8), researchers have proposed several promising solutions to the problem. Some rely on extra salt to make the battery last longer, while others incorporate a thin layer of copper to improve performance. Others have managed to pack high energy density into the industry standard 18650 format.
CATL says its researchers have overcome this problem with a sodium-ion battery using a hard, porous carbon material for the anode and altering the structure of another material called Prussian White to rearrange electrons. It formed a key component of the company’s first commercial sodium-ion battery, which boasts some impressive performance figures.
This new type of battery is claimed to have an energy density of up to 160 Wh/kg, which is far from the density offered by lithium batteries of up to 285 Wh/kg. It can also be charged to 80% capacity in 15 minutes at room temperature, and maintains 90% of its capacity at -20 °C.
As such, CATL says its new sodium battery is perfect for electrical transport, especially in cold areas. Needless to say, the energy density of lithium batteries is one of the things that hinders the transportation of electricity, especially when it comes to aviation, and a density of 160 Wh/kg won’t make up for that. However, there may be specific applications for much cheaper battery solutions in some areas of transportation, but CATL has also found a way to address this overcrowding problem.
The company claims its new battery can also be used for large-scale energy storage, placing it among a handful of other companies producing commercial sodium batteries for this purpose. CATL, which supplies batteries to Tesla, said it plans to build an industrial chain for its sodium battery deployment by 2023.
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