Sodium-ion batteries are considered a more sustainable alternative to lithium-based storage systems. Sodium is not only inexpensive and abundant, it is also easy to recycle. The challenge, however, is to transfer the new technology into industrially usable and scalable cells. This is where the ENTISE project (Development of Sodium Ion Technology for Industrially Scalable Energy Storage) comes in, in which companies and universities are working together towards the goal of European production of sodium-ion batteries. KIT is involved with several institutes, with the German battery manufacturer Varta acting as initiator and coordinator.
"So far, sodium-ion storage systems have not yet arrived on a large scale in the European battery industry," says Professor Maximilian Fichtner from the Institute of Nanotechnology at KIT and Director of the Helmholtz Institute Ulm, a research facility operated jointly by KIT, Ulm University and other partners, where research is also being carried out for ENTISE. "One of the reasons for this is that the material concepts are not yet fully developed. We have therefore set ourselves the goal of further optimizing the storage capacity and cycle stability. On the other hand, we want to produce enough material to manufacture practical laboratory samples through to prototypes in a round cell design and thus prepare for industrial production." The researchers then want to use a small series of round cells to demonstrate the practical suitability of the battery of the future in electric vehicles and stationary storage units under realistic conditions.
