Will Sodium Batteries Subvert the Dominance of Lithium Batteries?
A sodium battery is a rechargeable battery that uses sodium ions (Na+) as a charge carrier, mainly relying on the movement of sodium ions between the positive and negative electrodes to work, and its principle is similar to that of lithium batteries.
At present, the rising prices of battery raw materials have brought enormous pressure to the rapidly developing power battery companies. The data shows that the average spot price of lithium carbonate is about 13300$/ton, an increase of about 67% from the beginning of the year. The average spot price of lithium hydroxide is about 13400 $/ton, up 80% from the beginning of the year. The reason for the price increase is mainly due to the surge in demand in the two major markets of electric vehicles and energy storage. It is understood that the electrode materials used in sodium batteries are mainly sodium salts, which have more abundant reserves and lower prices than lithium salts.
The sodium battery can use the existing lithium battery materials, cell production process and production equipment, and there is no obvious bottleneck in mass production. The sodium battery has gradually moved from the laboratory to the practical application. At present, China has been at the forefront of the world in the development and manufacture of sodium battery products, standard formulation, and marketing and application, and the industry will soon be commercialized.
So, will sodium batteries subvert the dominance of lithium batteries in the future? From the demand side, the market's requirements for power batteries can be divided into four dimensions, namely, being able to meet higher capacity, faster charging speed, safer and lower cost. It is understood that the current energy density of sodium batteries is 90-150Wh/Kg, compared with 150-180Wh/Kg of lithium iron phosphate batteries and 200-280Wh/Kg of ternary lithium-ion batteries, there is still a big gap. But at the same time, sodium batteries are not inferior in terms of charge and discharge rate performance, high and low temperature performance, and cycle performance, and even have more advantages. In addition, sodium ions use less or almost no rare metals, and cheap aluminum foils can be used for both the positive and negative current collectors, which can further reduce costs while improving battery safety.
However, the low cost of raw material supply does not mean that the cost of sodium batteries is lower. The current supply chain is still small and immature and may be more expensive than lithium batteries. The industrial application of sodium batteries still faces a series of problems, including the stability of electrolytes, electrodes and electrolyte interfaces, and the recyclability of related industries and waste batteries needs to be further studied and solved.
People in the industry believe that lithium-ion batteries are still the mainstream technology route of power batteries for new energy vehicles in the future. The future application scenarios of sodium batteries may focus on energy storage, low-speed new energy vehicles, and small power fields, and cannot completely replace the application of lithium batteries in new energy vehicles. Sodium battery products will be mainly used in scenarios below 150Wh/kg, providing energy storage batteries with wider temperature range, safer, higher rate, and lower cost, which can be used as a beneficial supplement to support and ensure the development of lithium batteries, to a certain extent Alleviate the limited development of energy storage batteries caused by the shortage of lithium resources, and gradually replace lead-acid batteries. In his view, sodium batteries are currently positioned as the most economical and high-safety energy storage batteries, and it is expected that they can reach the price of lead-acid batteries and the performance of lithium batteries after being scaled up.
