Technology Blogs and Articles

Understanding the Physics at the Anode of Sodium-Ion Batteries

Researchers used DFT‑MD simulations on supercomputers to investigate sodium‑ion behavior in hard‑carbon anodes for sodium‑ion batteries. They identified that sodium ions quickly transition from 2D adsorption to 3D quasi‑metallic clusters, with an optimal nanopore diameter of about 1.5 nm for stable storage. The study also revealed that defect‑adsorbed sodium promotes clustering, while branching pore regions act as diffusion bottlenecks, limiting rate performance. These insights provide concrete nanostructural design rules to boost energy density and kinetics of NIB anodes.