So far the technology has only been scaled up to the size of a small, coin-type battery that can be charged “in seconds.” But the developers plan to increase its size for use in various fields.

How does it work

By combining anode materials used in traditional batteries with cathodes from supercapacitors (batteries that can store and release energy at very high rates), scientists have created a new type of sodium-ion battery. It offers both high capacity and fast charging ability without compromising anything.

They sought a way to overcome the current limitations of sodium-ion energy storage, which has been touted as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries, and described their findings in a study published March 29. The fact is that until now such batteries had lower output power and capacity than lithium-ion batteries. They also took longer to charge, limiting their potential applications. Therefore, scientists set a goal to eliminate the shortcomings.

According to researchers, There is approximately 1000 times more sodium than lithium in its batteries. This makes them potentially cheaper and more sustainable in production than the lithium-ion batteries currently used to power most electric cars and all our small electronics. Additionally, lithium is very expensive, its production is controlled by only a few countries, and it is subject to political blackmail.

• So the scientists built their prototype and developed a new type of anode from ultrafine iron sulfide particles embedded in sulfur-doped carbon and graphene. This improved conductivity and energy storage.
• For the cathode, they used a “zeolite imidazolate framework” (ZIF), a type of metal-organic framework that combines metal ions with organic molecules to form a porous, crystalline structure. This increased the charging speed of the battery.

Battery maintained efficiency and Performance over 5,000 charge and discharge cyclesThis means that it can be used repeatedly for a long time without wearing out.

This is critical for applications where batteries must operate for long periods of time without degradation, such as grid energy storage systems and electric vehicles.

By comparison, many lithium-ion batteries used in commercial laptops, for example, can only last up to 500 charge cycles before they start to fail.