Paper: Opportunities for moderate-range electric vehicles using sustainable sodium-ion batteries

 Hiya,

We recently published an invited commentary in the prestigious journal, Nature Energy. The article was entitled, Opportunities for moderate-range electric vehicles using sustainable sodium-ion batteries. 

Here is the link to the open source article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-023-01215-w

Abstract: Today’s sodium-ion batteries can not only be used in stationary energy storage applications, but also in 160–280 mile driving-range five-passenger electric vehicles. This technology will alleviate some of the supply-chain issues arising from limited resources of materials used in the ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries.

Faraday Institution Conference - 2023

Hiya Everyone,

I will be gving a plenary talk at the forthcoming 2023 Faraday Institution Conference at the University of Birmingham. Check out the following links for more information.

https://faradayconference.org.uk/

https://faradayconference.org.uk/speakers/jerry-barker/

https://faradayconference.org.uk/programme/

The title of my talk: The Commercialization of Some Advanced Battery Technologies.

I hope to see you in Birmingham!!

Introducing Redoxion Limited

 Hi All,

Just to let everybody know - I have recently founded and launched a new start-up company in the UK - Redoxion Limited. The company is currently looking to secure corporate funding.

Redoxion will re-define and revolutionize the volume manufacturing of low-cost and sustainable Li-ion cathode active materials (Li-CAMs). This will address the Li-CAM supply chain issues currently affecting the Li-ion industry. 

The plan is for the company to develop new and proprietary synthesis methods ready for the volume manufacture of LFP, LFMP and next generaion Li-CAMs. The business emphasis will always be based on low-cost and sustainable solutions:

Project LFP: develop new synthesis methods for LiFePO4 - ready for volume manufacturing using industry standard production equipment.

Project LFMP: develop new synthesis methods for LiFe1-xMnxPO4 - ready for volume manufacturing using industry standard production equipment. LFMP is now used in combination with ternary layered oxide cathodes.

Project Next-Gen Li-CAMs: development of a comprehensive portfolio of next-gen, low cost and sustainable Li-CAMs.

Delivery of a diverse and valuable IP Portfolio.

Best,

Jerry

New Paper: Correlating Local Structure and Sodium Storage in Hard Carbon Anodes

Hi Everyone,

Please check out this excellent new article on the local structure and sodium-ion storage mechanisms in hard carbon anodes, which has now been published fully open access in JACS. This work was the culmination of a fantastic team effort - so well done everybody. A collaboration between the University of Cambridge, the University of Birmingham, Imperial College London, Diamond Light Source and Faradion. Understanding these mechanisms in hard carbons is of critical importance in optimizing the performance of next-gen sodium-ion batteries. Enjoy!

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.1c06058

Sodium-ion Batteries - Roadmap Article from the UK's Faraday Institution (Nexgenna)

Dear All,

The roadmap for sodium-ion batteries has now been published fully open access in JPhys Energy. Please take a look. This excellent article covers all aspects of sodium-ion batteries from basic research to commercialization. Enjoy the read. It was a fantastic team effort - so well done everybody. Feedback would be much appreciated.

Go Sodium!

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7655/ac01ef

Next Generation Technologies (Energising the UK battery supply chain)

Dear All,

I gave a short talk on Sodium-ion Batteries on July 19, 2021. This was part of a series of webinars organized by the UK's Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

https://www.soci.org/

https://www.soci.org/events/hq-events/2021/next-generation-technologies-energising-the-uk-battery-supply-chain--part-4

For this workshop, SCI and the Chemistry Council Innovation Committee (CCIC) have organised a program of speakers from both industry and academia to cover the latest developments in technologies within the automotive industry. These talks will be followed by breakout discussions between participants, enabling them to meet others working on these technologies, and discuss what is needed to progress these next generation technologies further in the UK.

 

Programme:

Welcome and introduction

David Bott, SCI

What’s driving the next generation of batteries?

Prof David Greenwood, University of Warwick

A Short Introduction to (non-aqueous) Na-ion Batteries

Dr Jerry Barker, Faradion

Technology review and equipment study for next-generation Li-ion batteries

Dr Bahareh Yazdani, UKBIC

Fresh Pastures and New Ideas

Hi Everyone,

After 10 years as Founder and CTO at Faradion Limited I have decided that the time is right for a change of direction. Moving forward I will remain with the company as the Chief Scientist. But this change will also allow me to explore some new opportunities within the battery sector. On that basis, I have re-launched my consultancy business – Jerry Barker Consultants.

I would like to thank everyone at Faradion for the past 10 years - it has been a hugely rewarding experience. There is little doubt that Faradion’s Na-ion battery technology has a very bright future. High performance, low-cost and sustainable. What’s not to like? I am honoured to contribute to this success as the Chief Scientist.

On a broader theme, this really is a defining moment in the history of batteries and battery innovation. There is a huge market demand for low cost and high-performance energy storage. As a community, where do we go from here? What does the future hold? What are the really key challenges? What are the best next gen technologies? Beyond Li-ion cell chemistries, all solid-state cells, fast charge acceptance, anode-free technology, novel and inexpensive cell manufacturing methods, sustainability, new electrode architectures, low cost active materials, electric vehicles, new markets and applications, recycling and second use. These are just some of the areas where major technical advances will follow.

From a commercial standpoint, how does the UK (and for that matter, Europe) remain relevant? How do we convert cutting-edge fundamental battery innovation into commercial success? This will require some fresh thinking plus new ideas and major technology innovations.

I will keep you posted on my future plans as they emerge. In the meantime, please keep in contact and I thank you for your continued support.

Good Luck!

Jerry

UK House of Lords: Role of Batteries in Achieving UK NetZero 2050

Hi everyone,

I recently gave oral evidence at the following UK House of Lords formal meeting:

UK House of Lords, Science and Technology Committee. Formal Meeting: Role of Batteries and Fuel Cells in achieving NetZero.

https://committees.parliament.uk/event/3943/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will hear from leading researchers about anticipated developments in batteries and fuel cells over the next ten years that could contribute to meeting the net-zero target.

The Committee continues its inquiry into the Role of batteries and fuel cells in achieving Net Zero. It will ask a panel of experts about batteries, hearing about the current state-of-the-art in technologies that are currently in deployment, primarily lithium-ion batteries. It will also explore the potential of next generation technologies currently in development and the challenges in scaling them up to manufacture.

The Committee will then question a second panel about fuel cells, hearing about the different types available and their applications. It will explore challenges that need to be overcome in the development of the technology, and will consider the UK’s international standing in the sector.

The video of the session may be found here:

https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/f8361f3c-3cef-47f6-9247-0871d5b0a0b7#player-tabs

There is also access to the transcript.

Thanks!

Jerry

Book: Na-ion Batteries

 Hiya,

There is an excellent new book published by Wiley on Na-ion Batteries. This book is highly recommended to anyone who would like to understand the current status of Na-ion battery technology. Covers active materials to commercialization. The future of energy storage is sodium!

This book covers both the fundamental and applied aspects of advanced Na-ion batteries (NIB) which have proven to be a potential challenger to Li-ion batteries. Both the chemistry and design of positive and negative electrode materials are examined. In NIB, the electrolyte is also a crucial part of the batteries and the recent research, showing a possible alternative to classical electrolytes – with the development of ionic liquid-based electrolytes – is also explored.

Cycling performance in NIB is also strongly associated with the quality of the electrode-electrolyte interface, where electrolyte degradation takes place; thus, Na-ion Batteries details the recent achievements in furthering knowledge of this interface. Finally, as the ultimate goal is commercialization of this new electrical storage technology, the last chapters are dedicated to the industrial point of view, given by two start-up companies, who developed two different NIB chemistries for complementary applications and markets.

Our group has written the chapter on commercialization of Faradion's Na-ion technology.

Contents:

1. Layered NaMO2 for the Positive Electrode, Shinichi Komaba and Kei Kubota.
2. Polyanionic-Type Compounds as Positive Electrodes for Na-ion batteries, Long H. B. Nguyen, Fan Chen, Christian Masquelier and
Laurence Croguennec.
3. Hard Carbon for Na-ion Batteries: From Synthesis to Performance and Storage Mechanism, Carolina Del Mar Saavedra Rios, Adrian Beda, Loic Simonin and Camélia Matei Ghimbeu.
4. Non-Carbonaceous Negative Electrodes in Sodium Batteries, Vincent Gabaudan, Moulay Tahar Sougrati, Lorenzo Stievano
and Laure Monconduit.
5. Electrolytes for Sodium Batteries, Faezeh Makhlooghiazad, Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo, Patrik Johansson and Maria Forsyth.
6. Solid Electrolyte Interphase in Na-ion batteries, Le Anh Ma, Ronnie Mogensen, Andrew J. Naylor and Reza Younesi.
7. Batteries Containing Prussian Blue Analogue Electrodes, Colin D. Wessells.
8. The Design, Performance and Commercialization of Faradion’s Non-aqueous Na-ion Battery Technology, Ashish Rudola, Fazlil Coowar, Richard Heap and Jerry Barker.

http://www.iste.co.uk/book.php?id=1735

Edited by

Laure Monconduit, CNRS, University of Montpellier, France
Laurence Croguennec, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, France

ISBN : 9781789450132

Publication Date : March 2021

Hardcover 370 pp

165.00 USD

Commercialisation of High Energy Density Sodium-ion Batteries: Faradion's Journey and Outlook

Hi Everyone,

Our recent perspective article has published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A:

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ta/d1ta00376c/unauth#!divAbstract

https://doi.org/10.1039/D1TA00376C

Many thanks to my co-authors! Great job!

Ashish Rudola,   Anthony J. R. Rennie,   Richard Heap,   Seyyed Shayan Meysami,   Alex Lowbridge,   Francesco Mazzali,   Ruth Sayers,   Christopher Wright  and  Jerry Barker 

Abstract:

There is no doubt that rechargeable batteries will play a huge role in the future of the world. Sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries might be the ideal middle-ground between high performance delivered by the modern lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, desire for low costs and long-term sustainability. To commercialise the Na-ion technology, Faradion was founded in 2011 as the world’s first non-aqueous Na-ion battery company. Over the years, we have made rapid progress in increasing the all-around performance of Na-ion batteries, benefitting from decades’ worth of industry experience and prior Na-ion as well as Li-ion academic research. The Faradion Na-ion chemistry can now exceed the energy densities of LiFePO4//Graphite Li-ion batteries with rapidly converging cycle lives, similar rate performance and charge acceptance. In addition, our technology makes use of lower materials costs, offers improved safety through the use of high flash point electrolytes and has the ability to be discharged to zero volts for storage and transportation. In this article, Faradion’s step-by-step progress in the Na-ion technology will be discussed together with a general picture of how our Na-ion chemistry compares with other Na-ion systems and commercially available Li-ion technology. Finally, the importance of starting experimental testing on new materials, keeping commercially-relevant protocols in mind, will be illustrated by clearly highlighting the drastic effects of some crucial experimental factors. By sharing such industry know-how, Faradion hopes researchers worldwide will adopt such experimental protocols as routine methodology in the laboratory. These simple measures can significantly shorten the path from a new invention to commercial application, while also ensuring that the battery-related literature conveys the true commercial feasibility of an invention or discovery to the general public.

Sodium-ion Batteries

Hi everyone,

The wikipedia page on Na-ion Batteries has been thoroughly updated and revised and now represents a really good introduction to the current status of this important, new energy storage technology:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium-ion_battery

The history of the technology is covered plus the background status from active materials through to current-day commercialization. A good summary of all the companies currently active in this space is given, including Faradion:

Faradion Limited: Founded in 2011 in the United Kingdom, their chief cell design uses oxide cathodes with hard carbon anode and a liquid electrolyte. Their pouch cells have energy densities comparable to commercial Li-ion batteries (140 – 150 Wh/kg at cell-level) with good rate performance till 3C and cycle lives of 300 (100% depth of discharge) to over 1,000 cycles (80% depth of discharge).The viability of its scaled-up battery packs for e-bike and e-scooter applications has been shown.They have also demonstrated transporting sodium-ion cells in the shorted state (at 0 V), effectively eliminating any risks from commercial transport of such cells. The company's CTO is Dr. Jerry Barker, co-inventor of several popularly used lithium-ion and sodium-ion electrode materials such as LiM₁M₂PO₄, Li₃M₂(PO₄)₃, and Na₃M₂(PO4)₂F₃ and the carbothermal reduction method of synthesis for battery electrode materials.

The future of energy storage is Sodium-ion!

#63 | Interview - Dr Jerry Barker, Founder & CTO Faradion

Jerry Barker: AVID Technology Podcast

Hi All,

I recently recorded a podcast with Ryan Maughan of AVID Technology. You can find the podcast here:

https://www.spreaker.com/user/avid_technology/jerry-barker-faradion

or via the AVID Technology webpage, which also has the links to the various platforms at the bottom of the page.

https://avidtp.com/ep63-interview-jerry-barker-faradion/

I managed to talk about everything regarding the development of Li-ion and Na-ion batteries, plus a bit about photovoltaics and conducting polymers.

Enjoy!

Faraday Institution Annual Conference 2020

Hi All,

Yesterday (November 26) I participated in the Faraday Institution's annual conference for 2020. This year's conference was delivered on-line:

https://www.faraday2020.org.uk/programme/ 

I gave an invited presentation in the session entitled Pathways to Commercialization and early Faraday Institution Successes, chaired by Ian Ellerington. Here is the first slide:

Sodium-ion batteries can get ahead in the power game

Hiya,

Here is a link to a good recent article in The Engineer on Faradion and its Na-ion battery technology.

https://www.theengineer.co.uk/sodium-ion-battery-manufacturing-faradion/#comment-337869

Dr Chris Wright, who was one of the pioneers of commercialising lithium-ion technology, saw potential in sodium-ion in 2011, and co-founded Faradion with Jerry Barker to develop sodium-ion technology and bring it to market. After announcing our first major orders from ICM Australia, then for heavy-goods vehicles in India with Infraprime Logistics Technologies in June, we’ve had nearly 120 requests for partnership in the period of just four weeks.

Cheers!

Jerry

JB: Career Commercial Highlights

Hi Everyone,

Here is a summary graphic of my career commercial highlights - starting with the electrodeposition of II-IV compound semiconductors for BP Solar in the early 1990's up until the present-day Na-ion Battery Technology at Faradion. I decided to include the Tiamat highlight as this company is using my NVPF cathode material - discovered and patented during my time at Valence Technology in the early 2000's.

It has been quite an eventful ride - but that is 6 commercial successes so far. There must be one or two more still to go!

Cheers, Jerry

ACS C&EN article: Can Europe be a contender in electric-vehicle batteries?

Hi everyone,

Nice article in ACS Chemical and Engineering News (July 13, 2020) by my friend Alex Scott on the current status of Li-ion manufacturing in Europe:

https://cen.acs.org/energy/energy-storage-/Europe-contender-electric-vehicle-batteries/98/i27

Today, Europe’s share of that market is a mere 3%. But with the battery making up about 40% of the value of an electric vehicle, Europe is waking up to the notion that whoever controls a region’s lithium-ion battery supply chain also wields much control over its lucrative car industry and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that go with it.

Some nice quotes, later in the article (where does Alex get these from?):

The challenge for the UK, as with other European countries, is that it has to put together a battery supply chain that Asian producers already have in place.

“We rely on supplies of some of the critical cell components and precursors from the Far East,” says Jerry Barker, chief technology officer for the UK sodium-ion battery firm Faradion. “It would be far better if we had a reliable, local, UK-based supply chain for cathode, anode, and electrolyte as well as the cell hardware such as separator and current collectors.”

Jerry

Australia's StorEnergy training centre - Leading the way in renewable battery technology

Hi Everyone,

Led by my good friend and colleague, Professor Maria Forsyth, the StorEnergy training centre aims to challenge existing thinking and expand Australia’s capacity in energy storage and production. The centre will create new knowledge and intellectual property in advanced energy materials, batteries and battery-control systems for integration into end user industries.

Working with 14 organisations across government and industry, and four other Australian universities, researchers at the centre will facilitate small to medium-sized enterprises to take a global leadership role in advancing and producing new age storage technologies. By harnessing the expertise of researchers and industry partners, the StorEnergy centre aims to deliver benefit to our economy, the community and the environment.

I am on the advisory board - but looking very serious:

https://www.storenergy.com.au/about-us/people/

Faradion Announces Major Partnership With IPLTech for Developing Sodium-ion Batteries for Commercial Vehicles in India

SHEFFIELD, England, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Faradion Ltd., the British company that is a world leader in sodium-ion battery technology, has announced a new partnership with Infraprime Logistics Technologies (IPLTech) for its high energy sodium-ion batteries for use in commercial vehicles in the Indian market.

The news comes just a few weeks after Faradion's first major order from Australia and reflects its entry into one of the most exciting electric vehicle markets in the world.

India has demonstrated a growing appetite for moving towards electric commercial vehicles, driven by the Government's target of 30% electric vehicle adoption by 2030. It has given a significant push to infrastructure by allocating $1.4 trillion for infrastructure to be invested by 2025. This is higher than the UK ($35 billion) and the US ($500 billion) in the same period. Each day, 40km of highways are constructed in India and the market for roads and highways is projected to grow at an annual rate of 36% from now to 2025.

Faradion's sodium-ion technology provides similar performance to conventional chemistries, while replacing expensive materials such as cobalt and lithium with the far more abundant sodium. Unlike lithium-ion batteries, Faradion's sodium-ion batteries have exceptional thermal stability and safety. Further they can be safely transported and maintained at zero volts.

IPLTech is a Gurgaon-based heavy goods vehicle fleet service provider that is halving the cost of infrastructure development.

Siddhartha Das Executive Chairman IPLTech said, "We are driven to minimise the heavy pollution caused by heavy goods vehicles in India. Our full electric mega trucks are the first of their kind to be integrated and deployed in India. We believe that the Faradion technology can provide the Indian market an effective solution at competitive prices," Sid said.

Faradion has seen significant interest in several markets, including the US, Europe and Australia due to its performance, safety and price point. Mr. James Quinn, CEO of Faradion says India was the next logical region for Faradion, given the market conditions.

"Faradion is accelerating large scale industrialisation of its safe, low cost, Sodium-ion energy storage technology. The partnership with IPLTech reflects an important milestone in our commitment to the market and the Prime Minister's Make In India vision, as we also shortly commence manufacturing in India."

For more information on Faradion please visit https://www.faradion.co.uk/

Article in Chemical Engineering Online

Here:

https://www.chemengonline.com/commercial-scale-deployment-sodium-ion-battery-technology/ 

COMMERCIAL-SCALE DEPLOYMENT OF SODIUM-ION BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

By Mary Page Bailey | June 1, 2020 

Although Li-ion batteries are currently the dominant technology in the rechargeable-battery sector, sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries possess many benefits in terms of sustainability, safety and costs, and are poised to greatly expand their commercial usage. Sodium-ion battery specialist Faradion Ltd. (Sheffield, U.K.; www.faradion.co.uk) — in its largest commercial deployment ever — will provide Na-ion batteries for energy-storage applications in Australia.

Previously, the company had undertaken several prototype demonstrations, including electric bikes, golf carts and small-scale domestic storage applications, but the project in Australia represents a larger magnitude for Faradion’s Na-ion technology, explains Jerry Barker, chief technology officer and co-founder of Faradion.

“Our cell chemistry is based on a proprietary Na-layered oxide cathode. This chemistry provides a world-leading cell specific energy of 150–160 Wh/kg,” says Barker, adding that the company expects to generate cells with greater than 190 Wh/kg specific energy within the next 9 months. Another benefit of Faradion’s batteries is that they can be produced on existing Li-ion manufacturing lines. Faradion has worked closely with Haldor Topsoe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) in scaling up its proprietary cathode material. With comparable cycling and temperature performance, Na-ion batteries also provide improved thermal stability and safety when compared to conventional Li-ion batteries — Faradion has patented a method for the transportation and storage of Na-ion cells wherein cells can be transported without the risk of overheating or exploding. Faradion’s batteries are anticipated to enter the Australian market later this year.