Saturnose, a US-based battery development company, is working on an aluminium-ion battery that it hopes to commercialise next year. The Delaware-based company is testing an improved altered aluminium ion (Ea2I) battery with an energy density of 550Wh/L, which is 20 percent higher than the best lithium-ion battery energy density of 475Wh/L, according to the company.
The Ea2I battery has an average of 10,000 cycles of use, which is twice as many as a lithium-ion battery's maximum 5,000 cycles. Saturnose claims that its driving range in an electric vehicle (EV) is over 1,000 kilometres, much exceeding the 800 kilometres claimed by the finest lithium-ion battery on the market.
The company's objective is to gradually replace lithium-ion batteries, which are not cost-effective. Saturnose's new aluminium-ion battery has a production cost of $65 per KW, which is 50% less than a lithium-ion battery's $135 per KW. This will aid in the reduction of EV production costs.
With the fast growth of lithium battery applications, battery production and development companies have been looking for alternatives to lithium-ion batteries due to their limitations.
"Safety is the biggest concern in all lithium ion batteries, and the other major bottleneck is its usage cycle. A next generation lithium-ion battery will be extensively costlier to exceed 5,000 cycles. In terms of raw material price stability, by 2025 there will be 30pc short supply to demand of lithium if the current trend continues. A dependency on cobalt and nickel is also the major flip side,” said Saturnose.
However, Saturnose believes that the quantity and durability of aluminium in the globe will obviate the necessity for nickel and cobalt in lithium-ion batteries. According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics, the global nickel market was in deficit from January to September, with expected demand surpassing supplies by 108,500t.
On 7 December, Argus-estimated prices for 99.5pc grade lithium carbonate were 210,000-220,000 yuan/t ($33,050-34,625/t) ex-works, the highest level since Argus began this assessment in 2016, up 383pc year on year, owing to tighter feedstock supplies and firmer demand from the lithium iron phosphate battery sector. Prices for cobalt hydroxide feedstock have also increased by 100 percent since the beginning of the year, reaching $25.80-26.30/lb cif China.
Some Chinese battery manufacturers are increasing their sodium-ion battery research in response to government directives. In August, the Chinese government announced intentions to encourage the growth of the sodium-ion battery sector from 2021 to 2025, the country's 14th five-year economic plan term.
On July 29, CATL, China's leading power battery maker, announced its new sodium-ion batteries, with the goal of establishing an industrial supply chain by 2023. Huayang Group, Sunwoda, Guangzhou Great Power, Great Wall, Ronbay, and Putailai, among others, have announced ambitions to create sodium-ion batteries.
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