Scientists with a common goal, to figure out an alternative to the lithium ion battery, the main power source of choice, are not giving up. The quarrel is not with the lithium ion battery’s performance but in its high price and looming scarcity. The objective is to be able to offer a realistic alternative to lithium ion batteries for energy storage. Numerous recipes are coming out of labs as research efforts continue. The latest team to make news in this effort is from Japan, which relies on imports for its entire supply of the rare metal lithium. The news-makers are a research group at the Tokyo University of Science, led by Associate Professor Shinichi Komaba. They have confirmed they are making progress with their focus on sodium ion batteries as a li-ion alternative.
They are developing the positive and negative electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries using sodium ions as the cathode and carbon from ordinary sugar for the anode.
“Actually, we’ve spent about seven years researching sodium ion batteries. We’ve gained a lot of know-how regarding electrolytes and cells for such batteries. We have all the reagents needed right here,” he said.
“Sodium ion batteries can be made using iron, aluminum, and sodium, rather than cobalt or copper as before,” added Prof. Komaba. “What’s more, our results show that battery capacity can be increased simply by using carbon made from sugar as the anode. So high-performance batteries like expensive lithium batteries, which are an important type of rechargeable battery, may be achievable. ” Via Komaba Group reports sodium ion battery progress.
