NEW Sodium solid state batteries could solve our lithium crisis

A team of researchers from Deakin University’s Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) has used computer modeling and simulations to progress the design of a new type of solid-state polymer electrolyte, showing its potential use in various types of polymer-based solid-state batteries, particularly sodium and potassium batteries. New research, published in the journal Nature Materials, suggests that by using a polymer as the ion conductor rather than the flammable liquid solvents currently used in lithium-ion batteries, energy storage is greener, safer, and less expensive.