Researchers develop sustainable battery binders and sodium-ion material libraries

Engineers at the University of California San Diego, in collaboration with the Toyota Research Institute of North America, have developed a new fluorine-free, water-soluble polymer binder for lithium-ion batteries. This material acts as the adhesive for electrode powders and aims to make battery manufacturing and recycling more environmentally friendly. By eliminating toxic solvents and reducing the need for energy-intensive drying processes, the binder simplifies production and recycling without sacrificing the performance or stability of the battery.

In a separate development, researchers at the University of Surrey have established a new materials library to assist in the design of sodium-ion batteries. By testing 28 different chemical compositions of sodium manganese oxide, the team identified how substituting manganese with iron, titanium, or vanadium affects energy capacity, stability, and charging rates. The resulting dataset is intended to train machine-learning models, potentially allowing artificial intelligence to predict and identify optimal battery compositions before physical testing occurs.