The batteries in most modern mobile devices contain lithium-ion. Y’know, it’s that metal that’s good at carrying electrical charges. Duracell makes a big deal about it when their batteries have a lot of it. The thing is that lithium isn’t super common. Most of it is mined in remote parts of South America. There’s still plenty now, but at the rate technology is growing, we’re gonna run out sooner or later. Scientists have been working for years to make a substitute battery, with one of the most promising elements being sodium, but they haven’t been able to make one that can hold a charge. Until now, that is.
A research team at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana have successfully created an honest-to-goodness sodium-ion battery. Turns out all it needed was some powdered sodium instead of solid chunks. There’s a long, complicated explanation for how this works, but here’s the short version: sodium powder suspended in a hexon liquid allow ions to pass properly. Using this method, batteries could be produced for a fraction of the cost of lithium ones, which would also be helpful in creating batteries for solar and wind generators.
