At an online launch event called Tech Zone, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) Founder and Chairman Dr. Robin Zeng unveiled the company’s first-generation sodium-ion battery. The company showed an AB battery pack solution, which integrates sodium-ion cells and lithium-ion cells into one pack.
CATL believes that sodium-ion batteries represent a milestone in the exploration of basic science and technology for use of clean energy and transportation electrification promoting the goal of carbon neutrality. Its execs say the new energy industry has entered a complex and diversified development stage, with the increasingly segmented markets raising differentiated requirements for batteries. Worldwide research and development activity of basic materials for batteries is accelerating, which provides a window for the industrialization of sodium-ion batteries.
The sodium-ion battery has a similar working principle to the lithium-ion battery, but with sodium ions shuttling between cathode and anode. However, sodium ions are larger and have higher structural stability requirements, which have been bottlenecks for industrialization.
CATL has been researching and developing sodium-ion battery electrode materials for years. For the breakthrough, the company has applied Prussian white material with a higher specific capacity for the cathode and redesigned the bulk structure of the material by rearranging the electrons, which solved the problem of rapid capacity fading upon material cycling. For the anode, it has developed a hard carbon material that features a unique porous structure, which enables the abundant storage and fast movement of sodium ions and has outstanding cycle performance.
Based on a series of innovations in the chemistry system, CATL says its first-generation sodium-ion batteries have advantages of high-energy-density, fast-charging capability, excellent thermal stability, great low-temperature performance, and high-integration efficiency.
The company has achieved a battery cell energy density of up to 160 W·h/kg, and the battery can charge to 80% SOC at room temperature in 15 min. At a low temperature of -20°C (-4°F), the sodium-ion battery has a capacity retention rate of more than 90% and its system integration efficiency can reach more than 80%. Its thermal stability exceeds the Chinese national safety requirements for traction batteries.
As a result, the company claims the first generation can be used in various transportation electrification scenarios, especially in regions with extremely low temperatures, Also, it can be easily adapted to the application needs in the energy storage field.
To achieve its vision “of being a global premier innovative technology corporation and delivering excellent contributions to the green energy resolution for mankind,” CATL is focused on three strategic development directions.
The first is to replace stationary fossil energy with renewable energy generation and energy storage. The second is to replace mobile fossil energy by using EV batteries to accelerate the development of e-mobility. The third is to promote the integration innovation of market applications leveraging electrification plus intelligence to accelerate the drive towards new energy applications in different fields.
To support sustainable development in these three areas, CATL has established a four-pillar innovation system. The company is leveraging new chemistry, structure, manufacturing, and business models to build a rapid transformation capability from fundamental research to industrial application to large-scale commercialization.
Zeng does not espouse the belief of some industry experts that the battery-chemistry system will not see any more breakthroughs and that improvements can only be made in the physical-structure system. He believes that fundamental research of materials and the chemistry system is of great importance and that the world of electrochemistry still has a lot of unknowns to discover.
The company is engaged in in-depth exploration to further develop a chemistry system that is most suitable for sodium-ion batteries by using a high-throughput calculation platform and simulation technology. Based on its deep understanding of principles, combined with the application of advanced algorithms and computing capacity, it hopes to quickly evolve the technology and enable a fast track to industrialization. The development target for the next generation of sodium-ion battery is an energy density exceeding 200 W·h/kg.
Another part of CATL’s breakthrough is the development of an AB solution, which mixes sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries in a certain proportion and integrates them into one battery system, with control through precise BMS (battery management system) algorithms. The solution is designed to compensate for the current energy-density shortage of the sodium-ion battery while expanding its advantages of high power and performance at low temperatures. The company says that the combined lithium-sodium battery system helps to expand the application scenarios.
At the online event, Dr. Qisen Huang, Deputy Dean of the CATL Research Institute, said that sodium-ion battery manufacturing is compatible with lithium-ion battery production equipment and processes, and the production lines can be rapidly switched to achieve a high production capacity.
CATL has started its industrial deployment of sodium-ion batteries and plans to form a basic industrial chain by 2023. The company is calling on upstream suppliers and downstream customers, as well as research institutions, to jointly accelerate the promotion and development of sodium-ion batteries.
Zeng said that the race for carbon neutrality has spawned a demand for TWh-scale batteries and has promoted developments in the new energy industry. He believes that the emergence of new applications demands has given an opportunity to showcase the capabilities of different technologies. The diversified technical routes will also ensure the stability of the industry’s long-term development.
