(CATL) successfully held its first online launch event “Tech Zone” on July 29. Dr. Robin Zeng, chairman of CATL, unveiled the company’s first-generation sodium-ion battery, together with its AB battery pack solution – which is able to integrate sodium-ion cells and lithium-ion cells into one pack – at the event. As another milestone of CATL in the exploration of basic science and technology, sodium-ion batteries will provide a new solution for the use of clean energy and transportation electrification, thus promoting the early realization of the goal of carbon neutrality.
Breaking through the bottleneck of sodium-ion battery technology
As carbon neutrality has become a global consensus, the new energy industry has entered a complex and diversified development stage. The increasingly segmented markets have raised differentiated requirements for batteries. At the same time, the worldwide research and development of basic materials for batteries is accelerating, which opens a two-way window for the industrialization of sodium-ion batteries.
The sodium-ion battery has a similar working principle to the lithium-ion battery. Sodium ions also shuttle between the cathode and anode. However, compared with lithium ions, sodium ions have a larger volume and higher requirements regarding structural stability and the kinetic properties of materials. This has become a bottleneck for the industrialization of sodium-ion batteries.
CATL has been dedicated to the research and development of sodium-ion battery electrode materials for many years. In terms of cathode materials, CATL has applied Prussian white material with a higher specific capacity and redesigned the bulk structure of the material by rearranging the electrons, which solved the worldwide problem of rapid capacity fading upon material cycling. In terms of anode materials, CATL has developed a hard carbon material that features a unique porous structure, which enables the abundant storage and fast movement of sodium ions, and also an outstanding cycle performance.
Read more: CATL RELEASING THEIR FAST-CHARGING FIRST GENERATION OF SODIUM-ION BATTERIES
