A new sodium metal fuel cell could help clean up transportation

“It is an interesting cell concept,” says Joord Jessen, a professor at the University of Jessen University in Germany. Janic says that there is a previous search about sodium air batteries in the past, but using this type of chemistry in the fuel cell instead is new.

“One of the critical problems with this type of cell concepts is the issue of safety,” says Janek. The sodium metal interacts strongly with water. (You may have seen videos where blocks of sodium minerals are thrown into a lake, for a great influence). When asked about this problem, Qiang says the cell design ensures the removal of water that was produced during the reactions continuously, so there is not enough to feed harmful reactions. Xiang adds that solid electricity, a ceramic material, also helps prevent interactions between water and sodium.

Another question is what happens to one of the cell products, sodium hydroxide. Known as LYE, it is an industrial chemical, and is used in products such as a liquid drainage cleaning solution. One of the researchers’ suggestions is to reduce the product and release it in the atmosphere or the ocean, as it interacts with carbon dioxide, seizing it in a stable form and preventing it from contributing to the phenomenon of global warming. There are groups that follow field experiments using this fine chemical to remove the ocean -based carbon, although some have been controversial. The researchers also put the possibility of a closed system, where the chemical can be collected and sold as a secondary product.

There are economic factors that work for sodium -based systems, although it will take some work to build the necessary supply chains. Today, the sodium metal is not produced in very high sizes. However, it can be made of sodium chloride (table salt), which is incredibly cheap. It has been produced more abundant in the past, because it was used in the process of making leaders. So there is a precedent for the larger supply chain, and the increase in sodium metal production is possible to make it cheap enough to use it in fuel cell systems, says Chiang.

Qiang established a company called PROPEL Aero to market research. The project has received funding from the ARPA-E, which aims to develop new forms of high-power power storage for aircraft, trains and ships.

The next step is to continue searching to improve cell performance and energy density, and start designing small -sized systems. One of the potential early applications is drones. “We would like to make something flying over the next year,” says Qiang.

“If people do not find it crazy, I will be disappointed,” says Chiang. “Because if the idea does not seem crazy at first, it may not be revolutionary as you think. Fortunately, most people think I am crazy in this hole.”