Big breakthrough! New sodium-based batteries are expected to replace lithium batteries. According to scientific research surveys, sodium-based batteries and potassium-based batteries are expected to replace traditional lithium batteries. Scientists have developed a new cathode material for sodium-ion batteries. The material has high battery capacity and long cycle life, and is expected to replace lithium batteries that are expensive due to limited resource reserves.

　　New sodium-based battery expected to replace lithium batteries

　　A sodium-based battery is one in which sodium is combined with a compound called myo-inositol. Developed by researchers at Stanford University in October 2017. In sodium-ion batteries, sodium ions attach to myo-inositol, a common compound that can be extracted from rice bran or a liquid byproduct of corn processing. The new combination of sodium ions and myo-inositol significantly improves ion cycling in sodium-based batteries, allowing ions to move more efficiently through the electrolyte from the cathode to the phosphorus anode, which in turn generates stronger current.

　　The sodium in the new battery is combined with a compound called myo-inositol, an organic compound commonly found in household products, including baby formula. Just as sodium is much more abundant than lithium, rice bran alcohol is easily extracted from rice bran and can also be found in by-products produced during corn processing. This will help ensure material collection is cost-effective.

　　This new material uses a new idea to greatly improve the performance of sodium-ion batteries—its cycle battery capacity reaches 484mAh/g, and the cathode energy density is as high as 726Wh/kg. What is even more remarkable is that due to the extremely abundant reserves of sodium on the earth, the mining and production cost of cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries is only 1/100 of that of lithium batteries, thus controlling the overall cost of sodium-ion batteries to 80% of that of lithium-ion batteries. about. This breakthrough technological progress allows mankind to take another solid step on the road to large-scale energy storage.

　　The core technology of new energy vehicles is lithium batteries, but now there is a sodium-based battery that can store the same energy as the latest lithium batteries at a lower price. Material prices account for a quarter of the battery price. The cost of lithium is as high as US$15,000/ton, while sodium is only US$150/ton.

　　One of the biggest obstacles facing sodium- and potassium-based batteries is that they decay and degrade more quickly and have lower energy density than lithium batteries. But this is not always the case. When researchers studied the reaction of lithium, sodium and potassium ions with iron sulfide particles, they found that sodium and potassium were more stable with iron sulfide during the reaction, suggesting that batteries based on sodium or potassium may last much longer than expected. .

　　As global demand for lithium batteries continues to increase, lithium mining is in short supply and prices are rising. As reserves are depleted, their prices are likely to rise further. In order to meet the existing demand for lithium battery production, the production capacity of various mines around the world has been pushed to the limit, and it is very difficult to increase production capacity. Not to mention, accelerated mining will also deplete these limited mineral resources prematurely, further driving up prices.

　　Compared with lithium resources, the sodium resource reserves on the earth are so abundant that they are "impossible to be exhausted": from the vast sea to the dining tables of every household, sodium chloride - table salt - is found everywhere. Compared with the price of lithium-ion battery materials of up to US$15,000 per ton, if sodium ions are used as electrode materials, the cost per ton will be only US$150, which is 100 times cheaper.

　　With the advancement of battery technology, more and more electric vehicles are appearing on people's horizons, which has also triggered concerns that the supply of metal lithium batteries may be exhausted. So while sodium and potassium-based batteries currently don’t have high energy densities, they are 1,000 times more abundant in the earth’s crust than lithium, which is important for large-scale energy storage, such as backup power for homes or grids. of.

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