A Chinese Scientist’s Breakthrough: 4-Minute Charging Sodium Battery
A Chinese scientist built a sodium battery that charges in just four minutes, potentially breaking China’s reliance on lithium. This achievement has significant implications for the country’s energy landscape.
Lu Yaxiang’s Innovation
Lu Yaxiang, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physics, won China’s top young achiever award for developing this revolutionary sodium-ion battery. The battery not only charges swiftly but also retains 90% of its capacity after 2,000 cycles.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Charging Time: Roughly 4 minutes.
- Capacity Retention: Maintains 90% after 2,000 cycles.
- Quasi-Solid Gel Electrolyte: Functions even when bent, offering flexibility in design.
- Abundance and Cost-Effectiveness: Sodium is 500 times more abundant than lithium and significantly cheaper.
Addressing Lithium Dependence
China imports 75% of its lithium supply, making this breakthrough particularly timely. The new sodium battery technology aims to reduce reliance on foreign lithium supply chains.
Commercial Potential and Recognition:
- Gotion’s Achievement: Separately, Gotion demonstrated sodium battery products with an impressive 261 Wh/kg energy density and 20,000 charge cycles.
- Grid-Scale Implementation: A sodium battery station powers 12,000 homes in China, showcasing its viability for large-scale applications.
- Industry Interest: CATL signed a deal to provide sodium batteries for energy storage, and MIT Technology Review named sodium-ion batteries one of its 2026 Breakthrough Technologies.
Closing the Gap with Lithium
While current commercial sodium cells lag in energy density compared to lithium (typically 150-175 Wh/kg vs. 250-280 Wh/kg), rapid advancements suggest sodium-ion batteries could match lithium’s performance soon. Economically, sodium batteries are expected to reach cost parity with lithium by 2027 or 2028 as production scales up.
About the Author
Darius Popa, a technology enthusiast and intern at The Next Web, contributes to research-backed content and investigates emerging technologies and global events.