The Zhitong Finance App learned that recently, scientists from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology integrated anode materials commonly used in batteries with cathode materials suitable for supercapacitors to develop a high-energy, high-power sodium-ion hybrid battery. The battery can be charged within a few seconds and is expected to replace lithium-ion batteries and be used in fields such as electric vehicles, smart electronic devices, and aerospace technology.

According to information, this sodium-ion hybrid energy storage system integrates common battery anode materials and cathodes suitable for supercapacitors. However, battery anodes are generally slow to store energy, and supercapacitor cathode materials have relatively low capacitance. To improve the energy storage speed and increase the capacity of the new battery, the research team optimized and synthesized it using two different metal-organic frameworks.

By incorporating fine active materials into the porous carbon of the metal-organic framework, the research team developed an anode material with better kinetic properties, synthesized a high-capacity cathode material, and also minimized the difference in energy storage rate between the cathode and anode, and obtained this mixed sodium ion energy storage device with high storage capacity and fast charge/discharge rate, which is expected to become a viable alternative to lithium-ion batteries.

This sodium battery can be quickly charged within a few seconds, with an energy density of 247 watt/kg, a power density of 34,748 watts/kg, and after 5,000 charge/discharge cycles, the coulomb efficiency is still close to 100%. The battery can be widely used in many fields such as mobile electronic devices, electric vehicles, large-scale power grid systems, etc.

Compared with lithium batteries, sodium-ion batteries have the advantages of extremely rich resource reserves, low cost, and fast charging. Both downstream application scenarios cover electric vehicles and energy storage. Although they lag behind lithium batteries in terms of energy density and sodium batteries have not been used on a large scale, sodium-ion batteries are regarded as an important technical route for the next stage of battery development.

Although judging from the current R&D progress, low-energy density sodium-ion batteries are not suitable for large electric vehicles, they can increasingly replace lithium batteries for low-end, short-range vehicles, or power grid energy storage. In these fields, battery size is not an issue. Currently, A00 class cars and two-wheelers such as Chery, JAC, Yadi, and Emma have all officially announced new sodium-electric products.

In terms of energy storage applications, at the end of last year, the National Energy Administration announced a pilot demonstration project for a new type of energy storage. Of the 56 shortlisted projects, there are two sodium-ion battery projects. According to Wu Hui, director of the China Battery Industry Research Institute, the industrialization process of sodium-ion batteries is developing rapidly. According to estimates, global demand for energy storage will reach about 1.5 terawatt-hours (Twh) by 2030, and sodium-ion batteries are expected to gain more market space.

On the industrial side, in 2023, both traditional lithium battery manufacturers and emerging lithium battery manufacturers will expand their layout one after another, and sodium-ion batteries are constantly being reported in the R&D and industrialization process.

Battery manufacturers such as Ningde Times, Everweft Lithium Energy, Penghui Energy, Huayang Co., Ltd., and Rongbai Technology have successively announced plans for sodium-ion batteries and electrode materials, and stated that they are committed to the upstream and downstream industrialization of sodium electricity. In terms of automakers, domestic car companies such as BYD, JAC, JMC, and Chery, as well as many overseas car companies, have also indicated that they will introduce sodium-ion batteries into the passenger car market.

According to statistics from Advanced Industrial Research, the number of companies in the sodium-ion battery industry chain has now exceeded 100. From 2023 to 2025, the effective production capacity of sodium-ion battery companies will reach 19 GWh, 25 GWh, and 60 GWh, respectively.

Huatai Securities pointed out that the important breakthrough of sodium batteries in the new energy vehicle application market marks a milestone in the industrial application of sodium batteries. In the application scenarios of new energy vehicles, sodium batteries bring differentiated choices to consumers with good low temperature performance, safety performance and economy. 2024 may be the first year of large-scale use of sodium batteries. It is recommended to continue to be optimistic about the development potential of sodium batteries. It is recommended to continue to track the application progress of leading sodium battery companies, mass production and cost reduction progress of battery material companies, and simultaneously pay attention to the industrialization of the three technology routes.

Related concept stocks:

BYD Co., Ltd. (01211): The BYD (Xuzhou) sodium-ion battery project has a total investment of 10 billion yuan. It mainly produces sodium-ion battery cells and related supporting products such as PACK, with a planned annual production capacity of 30 GWh.

Ningde Era (300750.SZ): The industrialization of the company's sodium-ion batteries is progressing smoothly, and Ningde Era sodium batteries launched the first Chery model.

Penghui Energy (300438.SZ): The company currently has three teams working on the research and development of sodium-ion batteries, including cathode routes such as layered oxides and polyanionic systems. The company's sodium battery products have excellent performance.