Korean researchers say they have achieved a “breakthrough” in charging sodium batteries. They were able to load and unload them again within a few seconds. This could massively accelerate the mobility transition.
Sodium batteries have long been said to have immense advantages over the previously most commonly used lithium-ion batteries. Not only are they considered significantly cheaper, they are also more sustainable as they can be produced almost entirely without rare earths. In addition, they are less susceptible to thermal instability and could have a longer lifespan, improving the performance and reliability of electric vehicles. Charging is significantly faster than a “normal” refueling process. The battery developed by scientists at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) could once again accelerate the switch to electromobility. As they describe in the specialist journal “Energy Storage Materials”, they can completely charge and discharge their energy storage in just a few seconds – and this is much faster than a normal refueling process with fossil fuels. This is made possible by materials that are normally used for so-called supercapacitors become. These are power storage devices with an extremely high power density – these are also known for enormous charging speeds, but can only store a very small amount of energy. Hybrid of battery and supercapacitorThe researchers have now developed a type of hybrid of battery and supercapacitor in order to take advantage of the advantages to use both technologies – and achieved record values for energy and power density. In addition to the immense charging speed, the battery built in the laboratory also had a longer range than previously used storage devices. The high power density means that even more powerful electric motors can be operated with it. The first sodium batteries have already been installed. The big question now is how quickly the battery can be used in practice. The first sodium batteries are already being installed in electric vehicles in China, but so far they still have to be content with a low range of around 250 kilometers. The newly developed battery should definitely exceed that, as it has significantly more storage capacity than that at 247 watt hours market-ready model (150 watt hours).
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