New collaboration to develop sodium-ion battery materials

Phillips 66 and UK company Faradion have launched a new technical collaboration to develop lower-cost and higher-performing anode materials for sodium-ion batteries.

Sodium-ion battery technology is claimed to have an advantage over other power-storage technologies because it uses low-cost materials that are sustainable and widely available, explains Faradion. Carbon is the preferred anode material for the batteries.  

Faradion claims its technology provides similar performance to conventional chemistries while avoiding use of expensive materials such as cobalt and replacing lithium with the more sustainable and abundant sodium, while giving better safety and thermal stability. The company demonstrated the world’s first sodium-ion battery powered vehicle in 2015, when it launched an e-bike battery demonstrator in collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering and Oxford University.

Petroleum Review will be looking at the batteries market in its May 2021 issue.