Beyond lithium-ion: Exploring next-gen battery technologies

Electronics design engineers are well aware of lithium-ion’s shortcomings. So, the upcoming battery revolution revolves around experimental materials in novel applications to reduce price, resource scarcity, and environmental impact.

Which options are the most viable as lithium mining and production ramp up, becoming one of the most noteworthy yet contradictory global markets of the climate-cognizant age? Below is a sneak peek at three most viable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries.

Solid-state batteries

Solid-state gigafactories are expanding to the West because of their unique compositions and promise to remove flammability concerns from liquid electrolytes. The problems plague energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) adoption, but solid-state alternatives promise a longer lifecycle and improved safety.

These batteries have another advantage over lithium-ion options because they minimize thermal runaway, one of the most prominent concerns when justifying lithium’s costs and labor investments. Li-ion batteries charge to 100% in two hours, giving electronics design experts a welcome challenge to innovate past this already incredible engineering feat.

The design benefits electronics design engineers by improving power density while still being lightweight. So, solid-state blueprints may require some lithium but in severely reduced capacities to reduce reliance. Enough solid-state battery variances exist to forge more sustainable anodes and cathodes, such as lithium-iron phosphates and polymers.

Metal-air batteries

Metal-air batteries rely on oxygen as the cathode material, using a reduction reaction for power. Using oxygen removes barriers regarding storage and accessibility problems in other battery structures.

Professionals can use zinc, aluminum, iron and more to minimize exploiting the world’s limited lithium stores and get a denser battery. They are five to 30 times more energy efficient than li-ion products, leveraging materials more easily found and obtained in nature. This could empower other technologies to more sustainable futures, including hearing aids and uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs).

Sodium-ion batteries

Sodium is a low-cost and potent material for batteries, and it doesn’t need nickel or cobalt to work. Supply chains need more abundant materials to maintain B2B relationships and meet market demands. It is not as well-known in the industry, but sodium could solve many of the quandaries electronic design engineers are trying to solve, including:

Cost-effectiveness
Improved safety
High energy density
Coulombic efficiency
Heightened durability
Decreased environmental impact

Even though sodium provides these advantages, it must overrun lithium as the incumbent. Despite lithium’s faults, the sector set it as the gold standard for batteries. Sodium must prove how much it can pack into a smaller battery than li-ions.

Sodium-ion battery density is already outperforming lower-tier products at a faster pace. The first sodium-powered vehicle will make its debut in January 2024. It has a 157-mile range and 25 kWh capacity, which is impressive given it’s the first of its kind.

What’s after lithium-ion

Other technologies like flow batteries and magnesium-ion options are also rising in the electronics design landscape. This scratches the surface of unharnessed energetic potential for renewable power storage and electric vehicle applications.

Engineers must consider every detail—from microprocessors to passive components—when prototyping new circuit designs. Attention to detail will make embedded system development run smoothly, leading to compliant, futuristic batteries for a greener planet.

Ellie Gabel is a freelance writer as well as an associate editor at Revolutionized.

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Beyond lithium-ion: Exploring next-gen battery technologies

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