Advances in battery technology can be seen in the work done by scientists to create a way for combining lithium and sodium for use in modern, high-capacity batteries. They hope that by merging both of these elements, they will be able to cut expenses, safeguard the supply chain, and find a solution to the growing shortage of lithium, which is in great demand because it is used in lithium-ion batteries.
The combination of lithium and sodium is the subject of research at Arizona State University, which could prove to be a breakthrough in the field of battery technology. The preliminary results suggest a thermodynamically stable mixture of 10% sodium and lithium, which is predicted to reach 20%. Their goal is to reduce costs while simultaneously maintaining the stability of the supply chain to create a Lithium Sodium Battery.
The soaring demand for lithium to power lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, computers, and other portable electronic devices is pushing up the price of the comparatively scarce metal and impacting its availability. Lithium is rapidly developing into a rival to gold. Researchers are on the brink of inventing a method by which sodium may be used to replace some of the lithium, so reducing the expense and ensuring that there will always be a supply.
In recent years, researchers have been investigating the possibility of producing high-quality batteries without utilising any lithium at all, instead relying on sodium or other metals.
Although sodium batteries are easier to obtain and less expensive (sodium chloride may be prevalent in seawater), lithium batteries continue to be superior in regards to their ability to produce the concentrated charge that is necessary to power automobiles and portable electronic gadgets.
Combining lithium and sodium in a single battery is a novel strategy pioneered by Arizona State University Ph.D. student Tullio Geraci and Professor Alexandra Navrotsky. This could lead to cheaper batteries and a more reliable supply chain.
The team is developing lithium-sodium compounds and studying their structures, homogeneity, and thermodynamic properties as they do so. High-temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry is a specialised technology that was created and optimised in the Navrotsky laboratory. This approach is used by the scientists to assess the energy resilience of the materials, and heating tests are used to evaluate the possibility of the materials decomposing while they are in use.
Tullio Geraci spoke about their research at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference, where he presented their findings.
Tullio Geraci said,
We have been experimenting with combining trace amounts of sodium and lithium, first determining whether or not the mixture is stable, and then seeing how well it functions. It is an incremental process, and when we initially started, the stability was not encouraging — the very first thing we need to do is to determine whether or not the mixture stays in a state that can be used. However, as the sodium content went up, the stability of the system improved. We have reached a 10% mixture so far, and everything appears to be in order; the system is still thermodynamically stable. We believe that we are able to increase this number to roughly 20% before noticing any meaningful difference in performance.
He went on, saying,
At first, we weren’t even sure if these Li/Na dilutions were even possible to make, to our surprise, we discovered that weak dilutions have a tendency to degrade, and as a result, the solutions lose their homogeneity as well as the crystal structure, both of which are necessary for the production of a battery. However, as the sodium content rises, the material will eventually reach a more stable state. After we have determined the optimal mixture, we will need to hand off our results to those who specialise in the technology of batteries in order to create the first Lithium Sodium Battery. We think that this is the first step in the process of developing a new battery technology.
Professor Nancy Ross from the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg said:
The research that was conducted by Geraci and Navrotsky demonstrates how geochemistry can be utilised in the production of novel materials that are significant to the advancement of technology. Their discovery paves the way for the exploration of potential new sources of lithium batteries that are both more economical and more environmentally friendly. We rely on these batteries in our everyday lives.
