Scientists left water inside a battery and nearly doubled its power
Scientists at the University of Surrey discovered that leaving water content in sodium-based battery materials significantly improves their performance. This finding challenges the conventional practice of removing moisture from battery components.
Why it matters
Improving sodium-ion battery efficiency could provide a cheaper, more sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries for large-scale energy storage.
Sodium ion batteries could offer a more sustainable way to store large amounts of energy, and new research suggests they may eventually serve another valuable purpose: helping remove salt from seawater.
Scientists at the University of Surrey have found that a sodium-based battery material performs much better when its natural water content is left in place. Battery researchers often remove this water because moisture is commonly viewed as harmful to battery materials. In this case, however, keeping it produced a dramatic improvement.
Lithium-ion batteries currently power most smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles, and many large energy storage systems. They can store substantial amounts of energy, but lithium and some of the other materials used in these batteries can be expensive to obtain and may carry significant environmental costs.
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