The average car battery is getting longer and longer, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. American scientists have now developed a cheap, fast-rechargeable, high-capacity battery. The new battery does not use lithium, which has several advantages.
New battery It has been developed By scientists from the University of Chicago and the University of California, Los Angeles. It’s a solid-state, anode-free sodium battery that offers high capacity for electric vehicles and grid storage. Sodium batteries, solid-state batteries, and anode-free batteries have all been made before, but no single battery has been built that combines all of these things, the researchers wrote in the journal Science. Energy of nature.
Anode-free batteries
An anode is typically used to store ions during charging. During battery use, ions flow from the positive electrode through the electrolyte to the current collector, powering appliances and cars along the way. Anode-less batteries store those ions in electrochemical deposits of an alkali metal directly on the current collector. This ensures higher cell voltages, lower cell costs and higher energy density.
Provided that the electrolyte and current collector find each other well, because this is a difficult point with this new battery structure. The reason why the scientists chose the current collector that envelops the electrolyte instead of the other way around.
No lithium, less dependence on China
The new battery is cheaper and more environmentally friendly to produce, because it uses sodium instead of lithium and has no anode. The solid-state properties ensure a safe battery. Scientists believe they have found a good way to get rid of fossil fuels. Lithium is rare: it makes up 20 parts per million of the Earth’s crust, while sodium makes up 20,000 parts per million of the Earth’s crust.
Lithium is also very popular, which makes meeting all these requirements even more difficult, as well as very expensive. Lithium batteries are found in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles, such as e-bikes and electric vehicles. And it has to come from far away: Much of the lithium comes from Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia (which have more than 75 percent of the world’s reserves). In addition, Chinese companies control 80 percent of the world’s lithium chemical production and 78 percent of cathode production.
Better for the environment
Lithium mining is environmentally harmful because industrial acid is used to break down the ore. Brine extraction is sometimes used, but this requires pumping large amounts of water to the surface. Sodium is found in seawater and is therefore easily accessible.
This new battery won’t be in your new electric car anytime soon, but it offers an interesting glimpse into the potential future of battery production.
Read also about a new EV battery that charges in 10 minutes. And about a potassium-ion battery that outperforms lithium-ion.
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