Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation publicly solicited opinions on two proposed national standard projects for sodium-ion batteries, which are the "Technical Specifications for Sodium-ion Batteries and Battery Packs for Electric Energy Storage Systems" and the "Safety Technical Specifications for Sodium-ion Batteries and Battery Packs for Electric Energy Storage Systems".
The drafting of the document was mainly completed by the China Electronics Standardization Institute, the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, CATL New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen BYD Lithium Battery Co., Ltd.
The formulation of the two standards has played a positive role in standardizing the competition order of the continental sodium-ion battery industry and promoting the healthy development of the industry.
At present, many companies in mainland China are actively deploying the field of sodium batteries, and the commercialization process is approaching.
According to a report by SNE Research, Continental's sodium-ion batteries are expected to be mass-produced in 2025 and will be mainly used in two-wheeled vehicles, small electric vehicles, and energy storage devices.
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Overview of the sodium industry
Sodium-ion batteries are a new type of secondary chemical power source, which is similar to lithium-ion batteries in structure and working principle, and is expected to complement lithium batteries.
It has better performance in terms of safety, high and low temperature performance, and large-rate charging and discharging performance, and has resource and cost advantages.
The working principle of sodium-ion batteries is mainly to achieve charging and discharging through the intercalation process of sodium ions between the positive and negative electrodes. Its structure is similar to that of lithium-ion batteries, including parts such as positive and negative electrodes, current collectors, electrolytes, and separators.
Sodium battery working principle:
资料来源：Electrochemical Energy Reviews
According to EVTank data, the total planned production capacity of existing sodium-ion battery companies has reached 275.8GWh, but because the industrial chain cultivation of sodium-ion batteries still takes a long time, large-scale industrial applications still need to wait until 2025.
Compared with the lithium-ion industry chain, the sodium-ion industry chain has shown significant changes in the upstream raw material end.
Sodium-ion batteries have obvious advantages in terms of cost, which are mainly reflected in two aspects: cathode materials and current collectors.
The abundance of sodium resources is higher, and the related raw materials are also more easily available, which makes the cost of sodium-ion batteries theoretically reduced by about 30% compared with lithium iron phosphate batteries with similar performance.
Diagram of sodium-ion battery industry chain:
Source: Donghai Securities
The technical route of cathode materials in the sodium ion industry chain is full of flowers, each with its own characteristics.
Specifically, the cathode material system is mainly divided into three technical routes: layered transition metal oxides, polyanion and Prussian blue.
The three major technology roadmaps of sodium-ion cathode materials are as follows:
Source: Public collation
Compared with the other two technical routes, layered oxide has the most outstanding electrochemical performance, with a theoretical specific capacity of about 240 mAh/g, and a wide range of raw materials.
In addition, layered oxide layered transition metal oxide cathode materials have the advantages of low cost, simple process and relatively mature technology. It has high compatibility with the production line of lithium battery ternary cathode, which can achieve rapid switching, thereby reducing the difficulty of industrialization, and has taken the lead in mass production.
A number of sodium power companies have chosen layered oxide as the mainstream route of cathode, and the representative manufacturers of this route include Zhongke Haina, Sodium Innovation Energy, Cube New Energy, Penghui Energy, Transart Technology, Veken Technology, etc.
Prussian blue compounds have the characteristics of low cost, high specific capacity, high energy density, etc., and also have great potential. This route is represented by many companies such as CATL to accelerate the industrial process, and the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries is just around the corner.
Prussian blue crystal structure diagram:
Source: Research Progress on Cathode Materials for Sodium-ion Batteries
Polyanionic cathode materials have significant advantages in terms of cycle life and have broad application prospects in the field of energy storage in the future.
The polyanionic cathode material system is similar to lithium iron phosphate material, which has the characteristics of low cost, no resource constraint, good circularity and safety, so it is suitable for large-scale application.
Polyanionic cathode materials will be used in the energy storage market on a large scale to give full play to their advantages of long life and stable performance.
On the whole, diversified technical routes and lithium batteries are compatible and complementary. Diversified technology strategies will not only help enhance the competitiveness of the mainland's new energy industry, but also promote the development of the entire industry in a more sustainable direction. #钠离子电池##宁德时代##锂电池##新能源汽车##汽车##财经#
epilogue
At present, the development of the sodium battery industry chain is rapid, and the mass production of upstream raw materials is just around the corner. With the continuous progress of the research and development of various materials, the cost after mass production is expected to be further reduced in the future, thus providing a strong impetus for the scale expansion of the sodium battery market.
The core process of cathode material production for sodium-ion batteries still faces some technical difficulties, and the main challenge lies in how to effectively inhibit the reconstruction of surface crystal structure and particle cracking during cycling. High-tech barriers have built the threshold for the production of cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries.
The agency predicts that by 2035, the price of sodium-ion batteries is expected to be 11% to 24% lower than that of lithium iron phosphate batteries, and the market size will reach $14.2 billion per year, with a broad industry space.
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