task0778
Diamond Member
Cool, apparently still has a ways to go but I do not doubt that long before this century is over we'll have gotten away from fossil fuels to a large extent if not altogether. I'd rather be spending our money on this kind of thing rather than high speed rail.
In the battle of the batteries, lithium-ion technology is the reigning champion, powering that cellphone in your pocket as well as an increasing number of electric vehicles on the road.
But a novel manganese and sodium-ion-based material developed at The University of Texas at Dallas, in collaboration with Seoul National University, might become a contender, offering a potentially lower-cost, more ecofriendly option to fuel next-generation devices and electric cars.
Battery cost is a substantial issue, said Dr. Kyeongjae Cho, professor of materials science and engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and senior author of a paper describing the new material in the journal Advanced Materials.
As manufacturers—and consumers—push for more electric vehicles (EVs), lithium production may have a hard time keeping up with increasing demand, Cho said. According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency, the global electric car stock surpassed 2 million vehicles in 2016 after crossing the 1 million mark in 2015. The report notes that, depending on the policy environment, there is a good chance that it will range between 9 million and 20 million by 2020 and between 40 million and 70 million by 2025.
In terms of cost savings in the EV battery, using sodium would be less expensive because sodium is more abundant, but it has some drawbacks.
"Lithium is a more expensive, limited resource that must be mined from just a few areas on the globe," Cho said. "There are no mining issues with sodium—it can be extracted from seawater. Unfortunately, although sodium-ion batteries might be less expensive than those using lithium, sodium tends to provide 20 percent lower energy density than lithium."
The energy density, or energy storage capacity, of a battery determines the run time of a device.
New material may help cut battery costs for electric cars, cellphones
Any bets whether they'll find a way to increase the energy density?
In the battle of the batteries, lithium-ion technology is the reigning champion, powering that cellphone in your pocket as well as an increasing number of electric vehicles on the road.
But a novel manganese and sodium-ion-based material developed at The University of Texas at Dallas, in collaboration with Seoul National University, might become a contender, offering a potentially lower-cost, more ecofriendly option to fuel next-generation devices and electric cars.
Battery cost is a substantial issue, said Dr. Kyeongjae Cho, professor of materials science and engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and senior author of a paper describing the new material in the journal Advanced Materials.
As manufacturers—and consumers—push for more electric vehicles (EVs), lithium production may have a hard time keeping up with increasing demand, Cho said. According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency, the global electric car stock surpassed 2 million vehicles in 2016 after crossing the 1 million mark in 2015. The report notes that, depending on the policy environment, there is a good chance that it will range between 9 million and 20 million by 2020 and between 40 million and 70 million by 2025.
In terms of cost savings in the EV battery, using sodium would be less expensive because sodium is more abundant, but it has some drawbacks.
"Lithium is a more expensive, limited resource that must be mined from just a few areas on the globe," Cho said. "There are no mining issues with sodium—it can be extracted from seawater. Unfortunately, although sodium-ion batteries might be less expensive than those using lithium, sodium tends to provide 20 percent lower energy density than lithium."
The energy density, or energy storage capacity, of a battery determines the run time of a device.
New material may help cut battery costs for electric cars, cellphones
Any bets whether they'll find a way to increase the energy density?
