Advanced sodium batteries with enhanced safety and low cost processing

The sodium battery using beta-alumina solid electrolyte is one of the most promising grid-scale electrical energy storage technologies that can balance the short-duration variability in renewable generation. Despite many advantages, the sodium batteries have several barriers for successful commercialization, mainly related to safety issues and high capital investment for installation. The safety issues are primarily related to mechanical crack or fracture of the ceramic electrolyte. Significant part of the high capital cost attributes to complicated processing of the ceramic electrolyte. Materials & Systems Research, Inc. proposes a novel cell design for advanced sodium batteries to overcome all these issues. The proposed cell design ensures greatly enhanced safety by using highstrength materials for structural integrity. Significant cost reduction is also expected by using a simple, low-cost processing method.