Battery Material for the Sodium-ion Revolution – KIT.
Powerful, safe, and sustainable – sodium-ion batteries have many advantages over conventional batteries. As they do not contain any critical resources like lithium or cobalt, they will also reduce costs of stationary energy storage systems and electric mobility. So far, however, energy storage materials required for production have been lacking. Litona, a startup established at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), will produce these materials on an industrial scale. From April 22 to 26, 2024, Litona will present its work at KIT’s stand in the “Energy Solutions” hall (hall 13, stand C76) at Hannover Messe.
Prussian White is “chemically related” to the well- known dye of Prussian blue. It is mainly based on sodium, iron, and manganese.
Sebastian Büchele from KIT’s Institute for Applied Materials, who founded Litona, said:
This energy storage material can be used at the cathode, i.e. at the positive terminal, of a sodium-ion battery.
“Such batteries are inexpensive and all the necessary resources are widely available. I am convinced that we will soon use them in electric vehicles and stationary energy storage systems.” However, it is still unknown who will produce them. European industry is facing a major problem. “At the moment, even research institutions have considerable difficulties in purchasing sufficient quantities of Prussian White. There are hardly any producers in Europe,” the scientist explains. “This significantly impairs research and transfer of the promising sodium-ion technology.”
Prussian White for Mass Production
When Büchele started researching sodium-ion technology, he decided to synthesize Prussian White on his own. This work at KIT did not only result in a high-quality cathode material, but also in an innovative production process. To serve a bigger market, he founded Litona together with chemist Tom Bötticher.
Büchele says:
“Our competitors had problems in scaling the production of Prussian White analogs,”
“We think that we have solved these problems. Moreover, we have developed methods to further improve our material.”
An Opportunity for European Industry
To validate the scaling steps and optimize the material for use in next-generation batteries, Litona used the infrastructure of KIT. Meanwhile, both researchers have already started setting up state-of-the-art production facilities..
Bötticher says:
We made a conscious decision in favour of Germany.
“We believe that European battery production has great potential. With lithium-ion batteries, Asia has been ahead in recent years. Now, sodium-ion technology offers a great opportunity for a new start in Europe. We want to be a part of this development, not just an observer.””
Litona at Hannover Messe 2024
KIT’s startup Litona will present itself at the stand of KIT in the Energy Solutions hall (hall 13, stand C76) of this year’s Hannover Messe from April 22 to 26.
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Battery Material for the Sodium-ion Revolution – KIT. source
