BRITE Pivot: Manufacturing Next Generation Low-Cost High-Capacity Batteries

Sodium-based batteries are emerging as a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries, which face high costs and limited lithium supply. Sodium is more abundant; in the US alone, there are 23 billion tons of soda ash that could be used to produce sodium. Sodium batteries can be more cost-effective, perform better in cold weather, and may endure more charging and discharging cycles. While sodium-based batteries offer many advantages, one key area of improvement at room temperature is addressing dendrite formation, which can impact safety and performance. To overcome this problem, liquid sodium-potassium anodes have been proposed. However, there has not been a viable manufacturing process to fabricate liquid metal anodes. This BRITE Pivot award supports fundamental research aimed at developing a scalable manufacturing technology for liquid metal anodes in sodium batteries. If successful, it will pave the way for large-scale production of next-generation rechargeable batteries that are low-cost, high-capacity, and reliable—unlocking new economic opportunities in the advanced manufacturing sector. This award supports an integrated experimental and theoretical study to address key challenges in a new battery manufacturing process, including ion diffusion limitations, irregular electrodeposition fronts, and the precise control of multi-metal deposition ratios required to form desired liquid metal alloys. This new process involves complex electrochemical phenomena that are not yet well understood. While redox reactions in electrodeposition have been extensively studied, achieving the desired alloy composition by simultaneously depositing different metals remains challenging — particularly due to diffusion limitations in porous materials. Experimental studies will explore the effects of both electrical and geometrical process parameters. Multiscale modeling techniques, including density functional theory and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, will be employed to investigate underlying mechanisms such as nucleation and growth under heterogeneous conditions. Research enabled by this award is expected to advance understanding of fundamental phenomena in complex electrochemical systems and lead to both new scientific insights in electrochemical processes and materials for energy storage. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.