Affordable, high-capacity sodium batteries have been developed by the UChicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering Prof. Y. Shirley Meng’s Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion. This groundbreaking work, in collaboration with UC San Diego, introduces the world’s first anode-free sodium solid-state battery.
Innovative Sodium Battery Design
The sodium-based battery is more affordable and environmentally friendly compared to its lithium counterparts. Sodium makes up about 20,000 parts per million of the Earth’s crust, compared to lithium’s 20 parts per million. This abundance, along with the innovative design, helps reduce costs and environmental impact.
UC San Diego’s Grayson Deysher, first author of the publication, highlighted, “Although there have been previous sodium, solid-state, and anode-free batteries, no one has successfully combined these concepts until now.”
Revolutionizing Energy Storage
The innovative battery architecture offers stable cycling for several hundred cycles. By removing the anode, the battery uses abundant sodium, making it cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The solid-state design enhances safety and power.
Prof. Y. Shirley Meng emphasized the importance of this advancement: “To keep the United States running for one hour, we must produce one terawatt hour of energy. To decarbonize our economy, we need several hundred terawatt hours of batteries. We need more batteries, and we need them fast.”
The Need for Sustainable Solutions
Lithium-ion batteries have dominated the market but come with limitations. Lithium extraction is environmentally damaging and geographically concentrated. Sodium, found abundantly in ocean water, offers a more environmentally friendly alternative.
The Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion (LESC) has made significant strides in making sodium a powerful alternative. The new battery architecture was designed to achieve the energy density of lithium batteries without the environmental drawbacks.
Innovative Sodium Battery Architecture
Traditional batteries rely on an anode to store ions during charging. Anode-free batteries remove this component, storing ions directly on the current collector. This design leads to higher cell voltage, lower cost, and increased energy density.
However, the design posed challenges, particularly in maintaining contact between the electrolyte and current collector. The team overcame this by creating a current collector from aluminum powder, which flows like a liquid. This design maintains a liquid-like contact with the electrolyte, enhancing efficiency.
Future of Clean Energy
Deysher hopes this paper will push the development of sodium batteries further. “Sodium solid-state batteries are usually seen as distant technology, but our work shows their potential,” he said.
Meng envisions a future with a variety of clean, inexpensive battery options that can store renewable energy efficiently. They have filed a patent for their work through UC San Diego’s Office of Innovation and Commercialization.
The sodium battery research, funded by the National Science Foundation, promises a cleaner and economically viable alternative to lithium batteries, bringing us closer to a sustainable energy future.
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