Sodium-ion technology plays a key role in stable energy supply

Research project SIB:DE research Sodium-ion technology plays a key role in stable energy supply

2025-02-13 From Stefanie Eckhardt | Translated by AI 3 min Reading Time

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Compared to lithium, sodium is a raw material that is readily available, cost-effective, and safe. Sodium-ion batteries can therefore play a key role in stable energy supply in Europe. The research project "Sodium-Ion-Battery Germany Research—SIB:DE RESEARCH" aims to evaluate the suitability of sodium-ion battery technology for the European energy and mobility transition and achieve rapid industrial implementation.

Powder-Up! Pilot plant for the production of active materials for sodium-ion batteries.(Image: ZSW Ulm) — Powder-Up! Pilot plant for the production of active materials for sodium-ion batteries.
(Image: ZSW Ulm)

Battery cells are an indispensable component of the mobility transition decided by the European Union by 2030. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are the most commonly used. However, dependence on and scarcity of raw materials pose a significant challenge for the lithium-ion battery market. Therefore, comparable alternatives are urgently being sought for both mobile and stationary energy storage. One alternative would be sodium.

Investigate long-term stability

When using alternative raw materials, it is important to optimize both the long-term stability and the practical use of the theoretical energy densities of the materials and cells of sodium-ion technology compared to conventional developments to ensure the required performance. Despite similar electrical properties, lithium and sodium cannot simply be interchanged. Chemical differences between these elements currently lead to technical challenges, resulting in the faster aging of sodium batteries and impacting their performance.

Scalably produce SIB active materials

The research project therefore primarily aims to identify SIB active materials that can be produced on a scalable basis. Moreover, they should offer competitive cell performance. Additionally, the development of SIB cell demonstrators and the evaluation of the drop-in capability of the technology, which enables integration into existing lithium-ion technology production processes, is of particular importance. This facilitates the transition to new technologies and can reduce production costs as well as development time. To evaluate the results, an evaluation matrix will be created that considers technological, economic, and environmental factors for different material systems and processes.

21 partners from industry and academia*

The project consortium consists of seven industry partners and 14 academic partners, as well as an extended circle of currently 42 associated partners from science and business. It is thus the largest consortium on this topic within Germany. The coordination of the overall project is held by BASF. Only through this close integration of competencies from science and industry can a rapid transfer of research results into industrial scaling succeed, enabling market penetration of sodium-ion technology. In addition to BASF, the partners include E-Lyte Innovations GmbH, Evonik Operations GmbH, Forschungszentrum Jülich/Institute of Energy Materials and Devices, Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production, Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials, Fraunhofer Institute for Foundry, Composite and Processing Technology, Humboldt University of Berlin, KIT/Helmholtz Institute Ulm (AK Bresser), KIT/Helmholtz Institute Ulm (AK Fichtner), KIT – Institute for Applied Materials IAM, KIT – Institute for Nanotechnology BELLA, Litona GmbH, Rain Carbon Germany GmbH, RWTH Aachen – Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives, Schunk Carbon Technology GmbH, TUM, University of Bayreuth, University of Münster (MEET Battery Research Center, IfBM), VARTA Microbattery GmbH, and the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research.

While the academic partners work on the materials science and cell technology topics, the industry partners focus on scaling the materials and industry-related cell formats. At the end of the project duration, the work will result in a recommendation for the feasibility of an industrializable process. These results then serve as a direct interface to the production topics and industry formats targeted in the planned follow-up project on production research "SIB:DE Development." The overarching goal of the entire initiative is the establishment of a comprehensive ecosystem for the production of sodium-ion batteries. (se)

*all located in Germany

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