2y ago

Firms are exploring sodium batteries as an alternative to lithium

www.economist.com

Na-Ion can be a lot less expensive. But it's a lot heavier. (Not a problem for grid-storage.)

33 comments

- Just make a flat battery and roll it up. 🧌
  
  There are cylindrical cells available. The capacity is pretty low, 18650 cells are around 1.5AH and 26700 cells are around 3.5AH. They discharge down to 1.5V, so you will get less capacity if you use them in something designed for lithium cells.
Can we eat them?
- Battery-licking good!
- At least once, yes
BYD is supposedly bringing them to production.
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/04/22/the-sodium-ion-battery-is-coming-to-production-cars-this-year/
- They are already in production, and sold to consumer, since few days. A french start up is selling an electric screwdriver with a sodium battery.
So the answer to the question about what to do with the excess salt from desalination plants, is make batteries?
- Good point !
  
  Now we just need a lot of swimming pools for the chloride.
Have they eliminated the need for sodium to be molten in sodium batteries? If so, that's great news!
- IIRC sodium is the -cathode- in the battery. No molten (RU thinking of reactors?)
  
  I'm not thinking of reactors, though I am aware that molten sodium is used as a coolant fluid. It seems that I was remembering an off-hand comment in a MinutePhysics video from a few years ago. Molten sodium batteries do exist, but regular sodium batteries also exist.
- Most likely because the news is in English. And why would Natrium be better on an international forum?
  It is Sodium in most Latin languages (despite Natrium being Latin), in Hindi and in Arabic. And Chinese has a different root. Among the 10 most spoken languages (according to Wikipedia), only Russian is using Natrium.
- Because we're speaking English, not Latin?
  
  Quare loquimur anglicus?
  
  Romani ite domum!
  
  Toccare!
- I’ve never heard natrium before. I guess I could learn. We could also call pineapples ananas.
  
  https://youtu.be/ZRRL_bi_62A

33 comments