sodium-ion batteries

A new Stanford University study finds that there are several several key routes that sodium-ion battery developers can take to compete on price, specifically against a low-cost variant of the lithium-ion battery known as lithium iron phosphate (LFP).

A new report says sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), made from abundant materials, could help India to reduce its dependence on imports to meet its energy storage needs.

A collaborative project led by German battery supplier Varta aims to develop industrial-scale sodium-ion battery technology. The final product of the three-year, €7.5 million ($8.08 million) project will be a small series of round cells for electric vehicles and stationary storage systems.

Dutch startup LionVolt has acquired AMTE Power’s battery cell production line in Scotland. It says it will use the assets for pilot production of its 3D solid-state thin-film batteries.

Researchers in China have summarized the technical issues hindering the development of hard carbon, which is regarded as the most promising anode for high-performance, commercial sodium-ion batteries.

Last year was another landmark 12 months for energy storage, with all indicators pointing to a massive surge in demand. Supply chain instability and inflation saw battery prices rise but the industry demonstrated an ability to swiftly react to geopolitical developments. We look at five trends driving the market.

Researchers in Egypt have developed a synthesis method that uses the high microwave absorbance of silicon carbide content in rice straw ash and takes just 60 seconds to produce sodium iron phosphates-carbon nanocomposites (NaFePO4-C), which can be used as sodium ion battery cathodes and as symmetric supercapacitors.

Scientists in Japan have demonstrated sodium-ion batteries using hard carbon microlattices, produced with an inexpensive 3D printer. In addition to reducing the battery size and slashing manufacturing costs, the resulting anode allows fast transportation of energy-generating ions.

US scientist have developed a new electrolyte design for sodium-ion batteries to improve their long cycling performance. The low-solvation electrolyte was designed for high-voltage sodium-ion batteries, which retained 90% of their capacity after 300 cycles.

Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a viable alternative to lithium-ion technology. Industrial heavyweights CATL and Reliance Industries, following the acquisition of UK-based sodium-ion specialist Faradion, are bent on bringing the technology out of the lab and into mass production. Against a backdrop of soaring prices and predicted shortfalls of lithium-ion battery materials, sodium-ion chemistry has never been more tantalizing.