A team of researchers from Stanford University has developed a battery using sodium that costs much less than lithium-ion batteries. The new batteries could offer a cheaper alternative to lithium without sacrificing performance. Let’s Get Salty Researchers from Stanford University have developed an inexpensive alternative to lithium-ion batteries that could better help us prepare for a renewable energy future. The group was able to create a sodium-based battery that can store the same amount of energy as a lithium-based battery at less than 80 percent of the cost. Other researchers have created sodium-based batteries in the past, but this new approach promises to be more cost-effective. “Nothing may ever surpass lithium in performance,” said chemical engineer Zhenan Bao “But lithium is so rare and costly that we need to develop high-performance but low-cost batteries based on abundant elements like sodium.” The sodium in the Stanford battery binds to a […]