Researchers recently developed a sodium ion battery using Cu2S anodes. This discovery will help to promote the commercialization of sodium ion batteries (sib) and reduce the production cost of any electronic products with batteries.

The research team of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAIST) recently developed a sodium ion battery with Cu2S as the anode. This discovery will help to promote the commercialization of sodium ion batteries (sib) and reduce the production cost of any electronic products with batteries.

Professor Jong Min Yuk and Honorary Professor Jeong Yong Lee from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering have successfully developed a new anode material for SIB. Compared with the existing anode materials, the cycle performance of Cu2S anode is improved by 1.5 times, and the estimated cost is reduced by 40%.

Batteries in various applications, including mobile phones, are lithium-ion batteries, commonly referred to as lithium-ion batteries or LIBs. Although so far, large-scale energy storage systems need a lot of cheap and rich materials. Therefore, SIB has attracted great attention due to its advantages over lithium.

However, a major obstacle to the commercialization of SIB is the lack of suitable anode, which shows high capacity and cycle stability of the battery. Therefore, the research team recognized the need for a good anode material that can provide high conductivity and theoretical capacity. The material was found to be Cu2S, preferably in nano plates. It "prefers to be made of alloy with sodium, so it has high capacity and long-term recyclability". Sis proposed in the study reveals that Cu2S undergoes crystallographic adjustment, leaving room for sodium insertion. The results show that the sodium ion insertion ability of Cu2S to graphite is 1.5 times that of lithium ion. In addition, the battery with this new negative electrode material can still maintain 90% of its original capacity in 250 charge discharge cycles.

Because seawater is rich in sodium, this development may help to reduce the cost of batteries, which can be converted into the price of various consumer electronic products by up to 30%.

Professor Li said: "We hope to develop the next generation of high-performance sodium ion batteries."

Professor Lu said: "Recently, people have shown great interest in renewable energy related products due to the domestic dust problem. This research may help South Korea take a step ahead in renewable energy products."