Sodium-ion cells
While many developments are on-going to find a better alternative chemistry than Lithium-ion base, sodium-ion cells are one of the first to deliver. Sodium is an abundant metal available from any sources (think about table salt and seawater) and it doesn’t require problematic materials like Nickel and Cobalt.
Sodium-ion cells have other benefits as well such as a wider temperature range than for example LFP (Lithium-Iron-Phosphate), a higher power density, easy to recycle and have a much lower production cost than for example than for example NMC types cells as used in automotive batteries.
Power and Energy Density
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What makes Sodium-ion safer and more sustainable than ever?
Clean energy requires sustainability. This is not really what Lithium-ion batteries offer. Besides the safety aspect, the mining and production of Lithium, Nickel and Cobalt is an expensive process and requires sacrifices of people working in non-acceptable conditions while impacting the environment. Recycling lithium-ion cells and batteries is also problematic. While NMC batteries, as used in automotive are the best we have, they are not sustainable technologies. Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LFP) are somehow better at the expense of lower energy and power density density but they still requires Lithium.
Sodium-ion solves many of these issues while offering an acceptable performance. No more Lithium, Nickel or Cobalt. Affordable, with more power than LFP and a wider temperature range. Ideal for energy storage and small to medium-sized electric vehicles.
Benefits of Sodium-ion
- Medium energy density
- High Power density (cell-dependent)
- No active thermal management needed in most cases
- No thermal runaway risk
- Operates (discharging) and from -40°C till up to +80 °C (cell dependent)
- Batteries are resilient in case cells fail
- Robustness: even when abused, cells keep working
- Reasonable lifetime (3000 to 6000 cycles, cell dependent)
- Close to zero-maintenance
Limitations
- Charging current needs to be reduced < 5°C
Benefits at system level
Sodium-ion cells enable applications that are often not optimal when using lithium-based batteries or lithium-based supercapacitors.
- Higher peak demands can be met with smaller battery packs
- Moderately fast charging reduces unproductive time (up to 3C at 25°C)
- Lower life cycle costs, less maintenance
- Easy to recycle
- Reasonably low acquisition cost
- More energy can be captured from external sources
- Reduced system complexity increases reliability
- Close to zero maintenance costs
- Safe and reliable at all temperatures
Using clean electric energy has always been hampered by the challenges of using Lithium-ion batteries. Sodium-ion addresses many of the issues while remaining affordable and sustainable more than ever.