Sodium-sulfur batteries, also known as Na-S batteries, are a type of energy storage that uses a molten mixture of sodium and sulfur as an electrolyte.
A new battery has been developed that boasts four times the capacity of lithium batteries, and at a lower cost.
A group of researchers around the world, led by Dr. Shenlong Zhao from the University of Sydney, has developed a new battery that has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of transitioning to a decarbonized economy.
The battery has four times the capacity of lithium-ion batteries and is much cheaper to manufacture. The team used sodium-sulfur, a type of soluble salt that can be extracted from seawater, to create the battery, making it cheaper than lithium-ion batteries.
Although sodium-sulfur (Na-S) batteries have been around for more than half a century, they have not had a low-cost solution and their widespread use has been limited by low power and short life.
By using a simple pyrolysis method and carbon electrodes to improve the reactivity of sulfur and the evolution of the reaction between sulfur and sodium, the research battery has left its previous sluggish history, showing high energy and long life in the chamber. temperature.
The researchers say the Na-S battery is a more energy-efficient and less toxic alternative than lithium-ion batteries, which, although widely used in electronics and energy storage, are expensive to manufacture and recycle.
Battery of Dr. Zhao’s Na-S has been specially designed to provide an efficient solution for large-scale renewable energy storage systems, such as electric power plants, while significantly reducing operating costs.
According to the Clean Energy Council, in 2021 32.5 percent of Australia’s electricity will come from renewable energy sources and the industry is moving forward. Home energy storage is also growing. According to a recent report, 33,000 batteries were installed in 2021.
“Our sodium battery can significantly reduce costs while providing four times more energy storage. This is very important for the development of renewable energy sources that, although they reduce costs in the long term, have had several financial barriers to entry,” said researcher Dr. Zhao.
When the sun isn’t shining, we need ways to store valuables that don’t cost a fortune and are readily available in your area or communities.
“We believe that by providing technology that reduces costs we can reach the peak of energy. Perhaps it goes without saying but as soon as we can the air – the best opportunity to have a heater.
“Storage solutions that use more resources like sodium – which can be processed from seawater – also have the potential to provide more energy and allow more countries to join the carbon removal process.”
Lab-scale batteries (cion batteries) have been successfully developed and tested in[{” attribute=””>University of Sydney’s chemical engineering facility. The researchers now plan to improve and commercialize the recently fabricated Ah-level pouch cells.
Reference: “Atomically Dispersed Dual-Site Cathode with a Record High Sulfur Mass Loading for High-Performance Room-Temperature Sodium–Sulfur Batteries” by Bin-Wei Zhang, Liuyue Cao, Cheng Tang, Chunhui Tan, Ningyan Cheng, Wei-Hong Lai, Yun-Xiao Wang, Zhen-Xiang Cheng, Juncai Dong, Yuan Kong, Shi-Xue Dou and Shenlong Zhao, 29 October 2022, Advanced Materials.
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202206828
