This Breakout in Battery Technology Could Be a Big Game Changer

In the current era, lithium-ion has shot to the front of the pack as the preferred form of rechargeable battery technology. While lithium-ion batteries have their share of problems and disadvantages, for the most part, they are durable, provide decent power, and can last a while before needing to be replaced. However, lithium-ion may be dethroned as the ideal battery format, due to new processes in the world of sodium-ion batteries – batteries that use sodium as a charge carrier over lithium. In particular, this type of battery can quickly become the best when it comes to its ability to charge and store energy.

Researchers at Tokyo University of Science looked at the benefits of using solid carbon as the anode inside these batteries, eventually finding that this porous material can store a high amount of sodium. In fact, under certain conditions, the researchers found that the rate of sodiation, or the incorporation of sodium ions, with this anode was much higher than the rate of lithiation in the same area. Therefore, the charging rate of a sodium-ion battery with solid carbon can be faster than a lithium-ion battery with solid carbon and similar to those with a common anode, graphite. Solid carbon could be the key to improving energy density, which sodium-ion has lagged behind compared to lithium-ion batteries.

At this point, it doesn’t look like sodium-ion batteries will replace lithium-ion in the near future. Although fast charging is possible, the problem lies in making the sodiation process fast and efficient and preventing the “congestion of ion traffic” to slow down. However, there are many advantages to sodium-ion technology that make it worth exploring and moving forward.

Research into sodium-ion batteries has been going on for years. This type of battery was developed in the 1980s, with improvements in the following decades, as lithium-ion rose to the top. At this point, sodium-ion batteries are becoming more widely used, for example, in cars, and the minds behind the technology hope to increase their prevalence in the coming years. Not only will their charging and storage capabilities be the same or better than lithium-ion units with the right materials, there are many other benefits to the sodium-ion era.

First and foremost, sodium-ion batteries are more environmentally friendly than lithium-ion. Sodium is more abundant in nature than lithium, which means that harvesting and using it will be done in a supply chain with less problems after all. Supply chains are also helped by the fact that sodium-ion batteries are easier and safer to ship, with a reduced chance of catching fire. Of course, they don’t compare well with water batteries as a potential replacement for the lithium-ion fire hazard. However, the abundance of sodium means that sodium-ion batteries can be more expensive to manufacture than lithium-ion and, accordingly, cheaper for consumers to buy.

Battery technology is constantly evolving, researchers are looking for new and exciting ways to improve it. Sodium-ion batteries are far from new, but work is underway to match – and surpass – their more widely accepted lithium-ion counterparts.