Researchers combine lithium-ion battery anode materials with supercapacitor cathodes
At the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), a team of researchers led by Professor Jung Koo Kang of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has made a breakthrough in the field of battery technology. Scientists have developed a high-performance sodium-ion hybrid battery that can charge quickly and has an impressive energy density.
The key difference between this prototype and existing lithium-ion batteries is the use of sodium (Na) instead of lithium (Li). Sodium is a more common and accessible chemical element — its reserves in nature are 1000 times higher than lithium, which makes the production of such batteries much more economical.
However, traditional sodium-ion batteries face a number of limitations, including lower power output, limited energy storage capabilities, and longer charging times compared to their lithium-ion counterparts. A team of South Korean scientists managed to eliminate these shortcomings thanks to an innovative design solution.
In their development, the researchers integrated anode materials used in traditional lithium-ion batteries with cathodes used in supercapacitors, combining them into a single hybrid system. This approach made it possible to achieve a high storage capacity at the same time as a high charging and discharging speed.
The key task in creating a hybrid battery was to increase the energy storage rate of battery-type anodes and increase the relatively low capacity of supercapacitor-type cathode materials. To solve this problem, the KAIST research group used two different organometallic structures, which ultimately led to an optimized synthesis of an anode material with improved kinetics and a high-capacity cathode material.
According to scientists, a fully assembled hybrid sodium-ion energy storage device demonstrated an energy density of 247 watt-hours per kilogram, which exceeds the performance of commercial lithium-ion batteries. At the same time, its power density of 34,748 watts per kilogram corresponds to the characteristics of supercapacitors. Thus, the new development combines high energy intensity and the ability to quickly charge and discharge.
The creators of the innovative battery are convinced that it can find wide application in many industries, including the production of electric vehicles, smart electronics, and also in the aerospace field. The results of this research were published in the international scientific journal Energy Storage Materials.