this post was submitted on 05 May 2024
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/16261249

Lithium-free sodium batteries exit the lab and enter US production

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

So how to make them at home? :)

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 months ago (5 children)

70 Wh/Kg is indeed very low density comparing with today’s li-ion 300 Wh/kg.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago

Still great for grid storage. Save the higher density stuff for cars, trucks, and space.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago

LiPo batteries are the more comparable type and are in the 140-200 Wh/kg range. For version 1.0, that's not a bad number.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)

At 1000 times the abundancy, it is already 233 times better for stationary applications than lithium ion, no?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Does this abundance imply 1000x cheaper storage costs?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

Probably more like x times more profit if we cant get competition going

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

That's pretty good for early production and I'm sure that will improve over time.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 6 months ago

Yeah but for many low-power applications, it's a damn cool development. Like I have a bluetooth keyboard and a few controllers that could eaisly fit a battery 3x-4x the current size inside no problem, so there's no need to waste lithium on that.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (5 children)

So what’s the deal, are they better, stronger, faster? Or take a hit for the cost/environment?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

At the current energy density, they're more suitable for stationary storage. But we need a lot of that, so that's a win. Sodium is cheap and abundant, so those cells should be a lot cheaper to produce.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 6 months ago

if we're all driving around in a short bus theres plenty of room for this density of battery.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

There's not enough known lithium deposits in the world to make the batteries needed to decarbonize transportation and provide the energy storage needed for a fully renewable grid. That is not true of sodium, which is cheap and abundant.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

The linked article consists of the answers to your question. Nothing else written there.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Potentially cheaper and uses more abundant materials than lithium ion, but not as energy dense, so not ready yet for automotive purposes. They have a much higher cycle life and faster charge/discharge rates, though, so good potential for applications that don’t need to move like data center power backups.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

My first goto would be a cellphone battery. Having a cellphone battery lasting months longer than what I had to deal with on my old phone. I welcome this.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago

Its not as energy dense, overall battery life will be worse. The battery won't degrade as fast overtime, so the battery will keep more total capacity over the years, as compared to a lithium ion battery that would have noticeably less battery after a few years of use.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago

From my limited understanding of the technology, sodium is more common and easier to obtain than lithium, and is less damaging to the environment to mine.

May not pack the same energy density though, but it's a tech still in the works..