Sodium‐Ion Batteries Paving the Way for Grid Energy Storage

Abstract

The recent proliferation of renewable energy generation offers mankind hope, with regard to combatting global climate change. However, reaping the full benefits of these renewable energy sources requires the ability to store and distribute any renewable energy generated in a cost‐effective, safe, and sustainable manner. As such, sodium‐ion batteries (NIBs) have been touted as an attractive storage technology due to their elemental abundance, promising electrochemical performance and environmentally benign nature. Moreover, new developments in sodium battery materials have enabled the adoption of high‐voltage and high‐capacity cathodes free of rare earth elements such as Li, Co, Ni, offering pathways for low‐cost NIBs that match their lithium counterparts in energy density while serving the needs for large‐scale grid energy storage. In this essay, a range of battery chemistries are discussed alongside their respective battery properties while keeping metrics for grid storage in mind. Matters regarding materials and full cell cost, supply chain and environmental sustainability are discussed, with emphasis on the need to eliminate several elements (Li, Ni, Co) from NIBs. Future directions for research are also discussed, along with potential strategies to overcome obstacles in battery safety and sustainable recyclability.

Carbon‐based anode materials for potassium‐ion batteries: From material, mechanism to performance

“…To ensure the sustainability of energy development, exploring high‐performance lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) is vital for energy storage due to the intermittency of green environmental solar and wind sources 1‐5 . However, the barren and geographic maldistribution of lithium resource in the Earth's crust (17 ppm, mainly in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia 6 ) and its high cost seriously hamper its application in large‐scale electric power devices where low cost, long cycle life, high energy density, and fast charge‐discharge capability should be met 7,8 . In this regard, sodium and potassium, in the same main group with Li element in the elemental table with similar physico‐chemical properties, have attracted extensive attention for their abundant distribution in the Earth's crust (23000 ppm for Na, and 15000 ppm for K, Figure 1A, the diameter for each circle represents log(abundance)) and low cost 9,10 …”

Sodium-Based Batteries: In Search of the Best Compromise Between Sustainability and Maximization of Electric Performance

“…Also, traceability concerning material composition is seen as an important aspect for the future recycling of SIBs. The need for information transfer throughout the whole supply chain is intensified due to the expected main application of SIBs as stationary storage batteries and the associated lifespan (Hirsh et al, 2020).…”

Effect of Germanium Incorporation on the Electrochemical Performance of Electrospun Fe2O3 Nanofibers-Based Anodes in Sodium-Ion Batteries

“…In the scenery of post-lithium rechargeable batteries, the ones exploiting sodium-ion storage, even if not commercialized at the large scale yet, probably represent the technology with the highest level of maturity and sustainability [19,32]. The development of highly performing anode materials is one of the barriers to still be overcome [33].…”