After years of promises, the solution to range anxiety and the availability of more eco-friendly battery materials could be here.

Scientists have discovered a new process using simpler and safer materials.

It could be the supercharging transition to a new generation of mobile electric power.

Better in all ways

Solid-state sodium batteries could be the answer in the hope of supercharging the transition to next-generation rechargeable batteries.

They are believed to be capable of more than doubling the range of current electric vehicles.

This could help facilitate a switch from conventional lithium-ion batteries found in everything from smartphones to electric cars.

Solid-state sodium batteries are cheaper, safer, and, more importantly, more powerful.

Cheaper, safer and cleaner

Solid-state sodium batteries are made of far more abundant materials than their lithium-ion counterparts. Though the concept has been around for some time, mass production has proved difficult until now.

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

Speaking  about their discovery, Professor Atsushi Sakuda from Osaka Metropolitan University said:

“This newly developed process is useful for producing almost all sodium-containing sulfide materials, including solid electrolytes and electrode active materials”.

Sakuda added that “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.”

Power pack

The solid sulfide electrolyte has the world’s highest reported sodium ion conductivity. It is roughly ten times higher than is required for commercial use.

Unlike the liquid electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries, solid electrolytes are not susceptible to bursting into flames when dropped or charged incorrectly.

Spontaneous fires from batteries exploding, usually while charging, have proved to be an increasing concern. While production has remained stable and safe, there have been an increasing number of incidents involving electric scooters and bikes.

Looking to the near future

This breakthrough could prove most promising for the electric vehicle sector. It offers superiour performance, reduced cost and enhanced sustainability.

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

Japanese automaker Toyota claims solid-state batteries could offer a range of 1,200 km – more than twice the range of electric vehicles currently on the market.

Moreover, 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 polysulfides flux Na2Sx for the synthesis of sulfide solid electrolytes for all-solid-state sodium batteries’.