Fast Charging and Long-Lasting Sodium-ion Battery From Bengaluru!

According to the information posted on Department of Science and Technology website, research team at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology has developed a super-fast charging sodium-ion battery based on NASICON-type cathode and anode material. The battery can charge up to 80% in just six minutes and last over 3000 charge/recharge cycles! That is really wonderful. Let us hope that the technology will soon be translated into commercial production and we will all be able to use it. Unlike lithium which is a scarce and difficult to extract metal, sodium is quite abundant on Earth. We are proud of the team lead by Prof. Premkumar Senguttuvan and Ph.D. scholar Biplab Patra. The novel material for anode is optimized in three critical ways: shrinking particles to nanoscale, wrapping them in a thin carbon coat and improving anode material by adding a small amount of aluminium. These allow the sodium ions to move faster and more safely. This enhances both speed and durability. Conventional sodium-ion batteries have slower charging and shorter lifespan.

NASICON is an acronym for sodium (Na) super ionic conductor. NASICON compounds have high ionic conductivities, which rival those of liquid electrolytes.