The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $50 million to be invested over the next five years to establish a low-cost Earth-abundant Na-ion Storage (LENS) consortium led by DOE's Argonne National Laboratory to develop high-energy, long-term. -long-lasting sodium-ion batteries.
The consortium includes six national laboratories and eight universities, which aim to develop sodium-ion batteries that will provide a sustainable and low-cost alternative to lithium-ion technology. They will seek to promote the industrial ecosystem of sodium-ion batteries in the US to diversify the supply of batteries for electric vehicles and relieve supply chain concerns.
The dominant battery chemistries today include lithium, cobalt and nickel. Sodium, as a bulk substance, can reduce risk by providing a wide variety of low-cost options, Argonne notes. However, sodium-ion batteries store less energy per unit of weight and volume, resulting in a lower driving range—a competitive barrier to lithium-ion batteries.
“The challenge we face is to improve the sodium-ion energy density to first match and then exceed that of phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries while reducing and eliminating the use of all critical components,” said Venkat Srinivasan, Director of the LENS consortium and the -Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS). “Importantly, any improvements must not compromise other performance metrics such as cycle life and safety.”
Researchers from the consortium's national laboratories will work to discover and develop powerful electrode materials, develop electrolytes, and design, synthesize and measure battery cells.
An advisory board comprised of established and emerging companies will provide industry insights and aim to nurture the US sodium-ion battery ecosystem.
DoE's Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are among the participants in the organization.
Source: Argonne National Laboratory