Belarusian scientists developed unique sodium-graphene energy storage device for electric vehicles
Belarusian scientists have developed a unique sodium-graphene energy storage device for electric vehicles – Valery Fedosyuk, Director General of the Scientific and Practical Centre for Materials Science at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, told journalists today on the sidelines of the Intellectual Belarus exhibition, BelTA reports
“We promised the President to create our domestic lithium-free battery, and we did it. We have the first prototype of the Belarusian sodium battery. This is a very important and necessary innovation for the country. We have achieved approximately the same parameters as lithium batteries. Our developers have estimated that theoretically, sodium can provide power, capacity and other necessary parameters 2.5-3 times higher compared to lithium. I think when we fine-tune the technology, we will succeed. We will showcase a more advanced battery at the next exhibition,” Valery Fedosyuk said.
The price of a new drive is much lower than that of lithium batteries. “Lithium is expensive, there are few deposits, there won’t be enough for everyone while Belarus has sodium. It is important for us to use domestic raw materials. Alongside sodium, the battery contains ammonia, which we also produce, as well as graphene, a modification that we get from cheap graphite purchased in Russia,” the Director General of the Scientific and Practical Centre noted.
So far, the new energy storage device has been tested on small electric vehicles. “The next task is a bigger battery for electric vehicles,” the scientist added.
He drew attention to the fact that no one in the world has yet made a working prototype of sodium batteries, but Belarusian scientists succeeded. “Our task is to repeatedly test the technology on batteries of different capacities, on different equipment, and after that we will look for investors with the Industry Ministry and think about how to organise first small-scale, and then more serious production,” Valery Fedosyuk shared his plans.
