Environmentally friendly accumulators – Efficient production processes for sustainable sodium ion batteries.
EAS Batteries, IoLiTec Ionic Liquids Technologies and three institutes at the Technical University of Braunschweig have joined forces to develop sustainable and cost-efficient production processes for sodium ion battery cells. Sodium ion technology is intended to complement lithium ion technology in the future and meet the growing demand for energy storage in an economically and ecologically sensible way. The “NaNaBatt” research project is being funded with around 1.6 million euros from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research funding programme “Battery materials for future electromobile, stationary and other industry-relevant applications – Battery 2020 Transfer” (Funding code 03XP0569). The total volume amounts to 2.2 million euros. EAS Batteries is coordinating the research project.
Battery technology: sodium ions compared to lithium ions
Sodium ion batteries are seen as an attractive storage technology of the future. Sodium is available in abundance compared to the critical raw material lithium and can be extracted in a more environmentally friendly way. The actual environmental impact of sodium ion batteries lies in their manufacturing processes, for example through electricity and heating requirements. This is where the “NaNaBatt” project comes in and optimises the production processes of sodium ion cells in order to create a sustainable storage technology that is on a par with lithium ion cells in terms of performance. Although the relative energy density of sodium ion cells is lower than that of lithium ion cells, this can be compensated for by a cell volume that is around twenty per cent higher. In future, sodium ion cells will be suitable as stationary energy storage systems and for mobile applications. They have safety advantages over lithium-ion cells and are expected to have a longer service life in the future, which will significantly reduce their overall costs.
Process transfer: sustainable, innovative and cost-efficient
The aim of the “NaNaBatt” research project is to transfer established efficient processes in the production of lithium-ion cells – especially their electrodes – to sodium-ion technology at an early stage. This approach will enable environmentally friendly rechargeable batteries to reach market maturity more quickly. The used active materials are sufficiently available, easy to procure and easily recyclable. The result is to be demonstrated in the form of large-format cylindrical cells, which should have a so-called “state of health” of at least ninety per cent after a thousand charging and discharging cycles. The processing techniques developed for the innovative and environmentally friendly process strategy will then be analysed within an environmental performance evaluation.
The research project will run for three years and ends on 31 October 2026. The findings will ensure the long-term further development of German battery cell production. New expertise will strengthen Germany as an industrial location and the products developed will open up new markets. This will create skilled jobs and international competitiveness.
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