Firms are exploring sodium batteries as an alternative to lithium
Na-Ion can be a lot less expensive. But it's a lot heavier. (Not a problem for grid-storage.)
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Comments33https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2023/10/25/firms-are-exploring-sodium-batteries-as-an-alternative-to-lithiumOpen linkView original on lemmy.world
Just make a flat battery and roll it up. 🧌
Material scientists hate this one trick.
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.
They are actually better than Lithium in several ways. Sodium batteries have most of the capacity of Lithium batteries by weight, around 80% if I recall. But what they have to offer is being completely non-flammable, tolerant to wider temperature ranges, and they are made of materials that are cheap and abundant almost everywhere. It's much better than having to source Lithium and Cobalt.
We could put Sodium batteries everywhere to power the grid since they are super safe, should be fine outdoors even.
Ok, so that sounds good for grid size battery packs and backyard generator replacements as well as indoor wall packs.
And like 80% of car trips.
Yes! It would be great for a cheap daily commuter.
All depend on which point you compare. Because for charging, sodium win over lithium.
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.
As a native English speaker, I don't think I've ever heard someone call NaCl just "Sodium", it's always called "Sodium Chloride".
That's interesting, it looks like I may have a bias on that due to my scientific background.
I’m a PhD candidate in chemistry. I’ve never once seen sodium refer to the salt, sodium chloride. Sodium is the metallic form or the atom.
However, why sodium, tungsten, lead, antimony, tin, silver, gold, mercury, iron, and potassium and not their Latin forms? Natrium, wolfram, plumbum, stibium, stannum, argentum, aurum, hydrargyrum, Ferrum and kalium? I don’t really know. Mostly it’s just fun trivia for me to tell the undergrads.
I always said salt, of sodium chloride for NaCl. Who is using sodium for table salt? The only time I heard that associated was when saying that table salt is a source of sodium, which is true.
Because we're speaking English, not Latin?
Quare loquimur anglicus?
Romani ite domum!
What's that supossed to say?
Well it would have said "Romani ite domum" if I didn't typo that.
At least I didn't write it as "Romanes eunt domus" like some weirdo.
(It's a Monty Python reference)
Toccare!
I’ve never heard natrium before. I guess I could learn. We could also call pineapples ananas.
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