Prussian white is a reduced, sodiated form of deep prussian blue pigment, much loved by artists. The adapted material’s basic building blocks include sodium, iron, carbon, and nitrogen according to Macsen Labs. These are already common materials in batteries. Recent news suggests a future role for prussian white cathodes in sodium-ion batteries.
Earlier Research Into Prussian White Cathodes For Batteries
Cathodes are the electrodes in batteries from where their electricity flows through external circuits. Their efficiency affects how much of their theoretical charge actually delivers over time.
In August, 2023 researchers published a paper in Journal of Energy Chemistry reporting how a prussian white cathode improved the efficiency of a potassium-ion battery. Their report (see link below) enthused over what they called ‘splendid electrochemical kinetics’.
Fast Forward and Prussian White Cathodes Are Back In The News
A report in Innovation News on April 8, 2024 caught our attention, this time on the subject of sodium-ion batteries. These storage cells use sodium-ions as their charge carriers between (mainly) carbon anodes, and sodium-based cathodes.
The sodium-ion battery, as a class, traditionally has these potential advantages over other, conventional ones:
- They are powerful, safe, and use sustainable materials in ready supply.
- They are also cheaper because they don’t contain lithium or cobalt.
- This makes sodium-ion batteries suitable for transport and storage.
However, and this is where prussian white comes to the party, sodium-ion batteries have lacked an ideal charge-carrying material for their cathodes, up to this point in time. But now an offshoot of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany is set to correct that shortfall.
The start-up apparently believes that prussian white’s ‘splendid electrochemical kinetics’ will also combine well with sodium-ion technology. Innovation News confirms the start-up is mass-producing the material they believe has great potential in the European market.
This energy storage material can be used at the cathode [of sodium-ion batteries]says Sebastian Büchele from Karlsruhe Technology’s Institute for Applied Materials. He believes they have solved the problems associated with scaling-up production, and are now ready to move forward.
More Information
First Sodium-Ion Battery Factory for BYD
New Sodium-Ion Electric Cars in China
Preview Image: A Sodium-Ion Battery System
