Rapidly charging E-cycle developed with Na-ion batteries and supercapacitors

Source: The post is based on the article “Rapidly charging E-cycle developed with Na-ion batteries and supercapacitors” published in PIB on 6th July 2022.

What is the News?

Scientists have developed low-cost, rapidly charging sodium-ion-based batteries and supercapacitors and integrated them into e-cycles. This move is expected to reduce the cost of e-cycles significantly.

About Sodium ion battery

A sodium-ion battery is a kind of secondary battery (rechargeable battery), which mainly relies on the movement of sodium ions between the positive and negative electrodes to work, similar to the working principle of lithium-ion batteries.

Sodium-ion batteries have triggered commercial interest as a possible complementary technology to lithium-ion batteries because of its several advantages.

What are the advantages of Sodium-Ion Batteries?

Abundant Availability: Sodium is the seventh most abundant element in the world and in comparison to lithium, it is available 1200 times more.

Cheaper: Affordable Sodium’s abundance makes this material much cheaper than lithium. The element costs less to extract and purify compared to lithium. Sodium-ion battery cells can be manufactured with ample metals such as iron and manganese.

Note: Lithium-ion batteries require cobalt, which is limited in reserve and distributed across the world in an uneven manner.

Better Performance at Colder Temperatures: Sodium-ion batteries offer better performance and can operate at a wider temperature range. They work much more efficiently in cold environments, compared to lithium-ion batteries. 

Non-Inflammable: Another advantage of sodium-ion batteries over lithium-ion batteries is they are nonflammable and there is no thermal runaway. This means the risk of the battery catching fire is less.

Can be Easily discharged: Sodium-ion batteries can be totally discharged to zero volts, similar to a capacitor, making it a safer option in comparison to many other storage technologies. 

Lightweight: Sodium-ion batteries are lightweight compared to lithium-ion batteries.

Simple disposal strategies: The simple disposal strategies of Na-ion-based batteries can help in addressing the climate mitigation issue.