New sodium batteries will double the range of electric vehicles

The research could help facilitate a switch from conventional lithium-ion batteries, which are found in everything from smartphones to electric cars, to solid-state sodium batteries, which are cheaper and safer.

Solid-state sodium batteries are also made of materials that are far more abundant than their lithium-ion counterparts. However, until now, mass production has proved difficult.

A team from Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan said the newly discovered process could overcome this obstacle through the mass synthesis of a highly conductive electrolyte.

“This newly developed process is useful for the production of almost all sodium-containing sulphide materials, including solid electrolytes and electrode active materials,” said Professor Atsushi Sakuda from Osaka Metropolitan University.

“Also, compared to conventional methods, this process makes it easier to obtain materials that display higher performance, so we believe it will become a mainstream process for the future development of materials for all-solid-state sodium batteries.”

The solid sulphide electrolyte has the world’s highest reported sodium-ion conductivity – roughly 10 times higher than is required for commercial use.

Unlike the liquid electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries, the solid electrolyte is not susceptible to bursting into flames when dropped or charged in the wrong way.

The breakthrough could prove most promising for the electric vehicle sector, offering superior performance, reduced cost and enhanced sustainability.

They could also eliminate range anxiety by vastly improving the charging capacity of electric car batteries.

Japanese carmaker Toyota claims solid-state batteries could offer a range of 1,200km, which is more than twice the range of electric vehicles currently on the market. Charge times for these new batteries could be as short as 10 minutes.

The research was published in the scientific journal Energy Storage Materials, in a paper titled “Utilising reactive polysulphides flux Na2Sx for the synthesis of sulphide solid electrolytes for all-solid-state sodium batteries”.