As the global community shifts towards more sustainable energy solutions, sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a viable alternative to standard lithium-ion batteries. These batteries have the potential to transform the energy storage landscape due to sodium's abundance and relatively low cost.
Since 1991, lithium batteries have dominated the energy storage segment. However, this dominance has resulted in a sharp rise in lithium demand, which could lead to shortages, price hikes, and delays because of scarcity of the resource. Moreover, lithium mining has clear ethical issues such as, oppression of local populations and environmental pollution.
In recent years, battery manufacturers and automotive manufacturers have been researching alternative source materials to lithium for energy storage devices. One of the most feasible alternatives is the sodium-ion battery. The relative availability of sodium, combined with its inexpensive cost, positions it as the next revolution in renewable energy storage. Sodium batteries were originally studied in the 1980s, but it wasn't until the twenty-first century that the true potential of sodium for energy storage was realised.
Sodium is the sixth most abundant element on the planet and can be extracted from saltwater, making it a highly sustainable and cost-effective alternative. Sodium-ion batteries provide an extensive and economically effective alternative by utilising this abundant alkaline metal with low production costs. These batteries deliver energy-efficient power with fast charging, temperature stability, and protection against overheating or thermal runaway. They are also less dangerous than other popular batteries since they do not include lithium, cobalt, copper, or nickel, which can emit harmful gases in the event of a fire. Additionally, sodium-ion batteries are adaptable to a variety of applications.
Despite their remarkable performance, sodium-ion batteries are still relatively new in the commercial market. Researchers advise that sodium batteries are not yet ready for widespread use, as they still fall short of the performance of the finest lithium-ion cells. Jean-Marie Tarascon, a solid-state chemist at the College of France, states that there is now no economic motivation for a transition, with lithium shortages being a theoretical issue and the metal's price plunging 70% in the last three years due to excess.
Sodium batteries function similarly to lithium batteries, transporting positively charged ions between electrodes separated by an ion-conducting electrolyte. However, the larger size of sodium ions means that fewer can fit inside the anode, requiring larger cells to hold the same amount of power, increasing cost and bulk. Researchers like Gui-Liang Xu from Argonne National Laboratory are exploring multiple avenues to address these challenges, including changing the anode composition from graphite to hard carbon, which can better accommodate sodium ions.
Amsterdam-based Moonwatt, an innovative energy storage technology firm, secured €8 million for scaling up its sodium-ion battery technology for storing solar power. The funding round was co-led by daphni and LEA Partners, and joined by Founders Future, AFI Ventures (by Ventech), Kima Ventures, strategic business angels, and customers. This investment will accelerate the development and deployment of Moonwatt's hardware and software technology, expand the workforce, and drive the shift toward a cleaner, more sustainable global energy system.
Moonwatt was created in 2024 by CTO Guillaume Mancini, CCO Valentin Rota, and founder Hu, based on the belief that clean energy only succeeds if the systems that power it are scalable, sustainable, and competitive. This is exactly what Moonwatt is creating by developing the "world's first" energy storage product for the solar industry. As solar capacity increases tenfold to 2030, Moonwatt's sodium-ion batteries breaks the intermittency and cost barriers of solar power, with 24/7 renewable electricity now on a par.
Future Prospects and Challenges
Politics is another wild card. When US President Donald Trump was sworn into office, he immediately announced a halt to federal support for wind and solar power projects, a step that could shelve plans to deploy large-scale backup battery systems. In a move that perhaps cuts the other way, in January, China announced new export restrictions on graphite, a key component of lithium-ion batteries, in response to new 10% tariffs on Chinese goods announced by the Trump administration.
But William Chueh, a materials scientist at Stanford University, says it’s technological advances that will decide how cost-effective sodium-ion batteries become. In January, Chueh and his colleagues published a paper online in Nature Energy evaluating more than 6000 road maps for producing them, and concluded that to be fully competitive with low-cost lithium-ion batteries, researchers will need several breakthroughs, including eliminating all of the expensive materials sodium batteries currently require, such as nickel and vanadium.
Sodium-ion batteries represent a significant step forward in the quest for sustainable energy storage. Their abundance, cost-effectiveness, and environmental benefits make them a compelling alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries. As technology continues to advance, sodium-ion batteries are at the forefront of renewable energy. However, the adoption of widespread use will require overcoming technological and economic challenges, as well as navigating political and regulatory landscapes. Will sodium-ion batteries be at the centre of a cleaner, more resilient global energy ecosystem? Only time will tell.
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