A New Era for Batteries: Argonne Leads $50m Sodium-Ion Innovation Push

Newswise — A $50 million consortium will develop sodium-ion batteries that will be a more sustainable and lower-cost alternative to lithium-ion technology and begin to foster an industrial ecosystem for sodium-ion batteries in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $50 million over the next five years to establish the Low-cost Earth-abundant Na-ion Storage (LENS) consortium. Led by DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, the consortium includes DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

The LENS consortium aims to develop high-energy, long-lasting sodium-ion batteries using safe, abundant and inexpensive materials. This initiative addresses a critical need to reduce U.S. dependence on the limited and strategically important elements used in lithium-ion batteries, paving the way for a more sustainable future in electric-vehicle technology.

“By leading the LENS consortium, Argonne will push sodium-ion battery technology forward and contribute to a secure energy future for everyone,” said Argonne Director Paul Kearns. ​“Our scientific expertise and dynamic collaborations in this important field will strengthen U.S. competitiveness.”

“The challenge ahead is improving sodium-ion energy density so that it first matches and then exceeds that of phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries while minimizing and eliminating the use of all critical elements.” — Venkat Srinivasan, LENS consortium director

At present, lithium-ion batteries dominate the global energy storage market for both vehicles and stationary storage. They power devices ranging from smartphones to electric vehicles and can store energy from renewable sources like solar and wind.

Relying on any single battery chemistry, however, creates vulnerabilities, and the dominant batteries today include the critical elements of lithium, cobalt and nickel. Sodium, as an abundant element, can reduce risk and increase supply chain resilience by providing a wider variety of cost-effective options.

The U.S. is particularly well-suited to supply both the raw materials and innovation for sodium-ion technology because the country produces a substantial amount of the world’s sodium chloride (table salt) and sodium. Sodium-ion batteries have the potential to eliminate not just lithium in some applications, but also cobalt and nickel, providing a more affordable and sustainable solution.

However, sodium-ion batteries store less energy per unit weight and volume, which results in a lower driving range — a stumbling block to such batteries competing with lithium-ion batteries.

“The challenge ahead is improving sodium-ion energy density so that it first matches and then exceeds that of phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries while minimizing and eliminating the use of all critical elements,” said Venkat Srinivasan, director of the LENS consortium and of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS). ​“Importantly, any improvements must not compromise other performance metrics such as cycle life and safety.”

“Sustaining the deployment of electric vehicles requires affordable and sustainable battery chemistries,” said Will Chueh, director of the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center. ​“The bold technical targets of LENS aim to transform sodium-ion batteries from a promising technology to a viable component of tomorrow’s electric vehicles.”

To achieve this goal, Argonne has convened a world-class team of researchers from national laboratories and universities. Each participant brings deep experience studying sodium-ion batteries. Collectively, they will work to discover and develop high-energy electrode materials, improve electrolytes, and design, integrate and benchmark battery cells.

“Sodium-ion batteries can play an important role in society’s need for inexpensive energy storage,” said Gerd Ceder, a senior faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division. ​“Foundational research in the area of new materials discovery, advanced manufacturing, and characterization is critical to the development and deployment of competitive sodium-ion battery technology. Berkeley Lab is proud to be part of this consortium.” 

An advisory board comprising well-established and emerging companies will provide the consortium with valuable industry perspectives, with a goal of nurturing a U.S. ecosystem for sodium-ion batteries.

LENS will be part of a growing portfolio within DOE on sodium-ion batteries, which includes research into the use of this emerging chemistry in electric vehicle and grid storage applications.

The consortium includes eight university partners: Florida State University, University of California San Diego, University of Houston, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Maryland, University of Rhode Island, University of Wisconsin–Madison and Virginia Tech. With the involvement of all 14 partners, LENS will play a key role in training a new generation of battery scientists and researchers.

“Our world is on the verge of a profound shift in how we power our everyday lives,” said Feng Lin, professor of chemistry at Virginia Tech. ​“With the combined expertise of the LENS consortium, we now have a unique opportunity to pioneer new battery technologies for electric vehicles and to train a new generation of scientists and engineers who will contribute to our domestic battery innovation and manufacturing.” 

LENS is supported by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology by conducting leading-edge basic and applied research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://​ener​gy​.gov/​s​c​ience.