Battery Breakthroughs

Researchers at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (with co-authors including Masashi Kotobuki) used a polymer-coated LATP ceramic electrolyte in a Na/LiFePO4 Li-Na hybrid battery to block Na-ion flux and prevent Na intercalation into the cathode. Discharge capacity was 145.0 mAh/g at the first cycle and 149.6 mAh/g at the 100th, with 99.7% average Coulomb efficiency (Electrochimica Acta, vol. 573, published 10 Oct 2026).

Hithium, a Chinese manufacturer, launched a 4 MWh sodium-ion BESS and a 785Ah energy-storage cell; senior product manager Leb Lan told ESS News the goal is moving sodium-ion from technology validation toward bankable large-scale deployment. He cites lithium resource concentration and carbonate price swings as motivation and expects further gains in energy density, consistency and efficiency, but the excerpt gives no measured field data, so the long-cycle-life claims are unverified.

A Kyunghyang Shinmun article (7 Oct 2026) argues sodium-ion batteries are gaining attention as an "all-weather battery" for ESS and mass-market EVs, where price matters more than the energy density of solid-state cells. It cites TrendForce's estimate of 74 GWh of solid-state demand for humanoids in 2035 versus IEA/BloombergNEF projections of 4,000–5,000 GWh for EV batteries and 972 GWh of new ESS installations.