MINING IN FOCUS
AfriTin’s project in Uis has started producing.
"Unlike other artificial interface
materials, tin is easier to apply
during the manufacturing
process.
free performance was observed in a variety of other
experiments, including the use of a high-loading cathode
material with the battery. The tin interface was also
evaluated using a sodium anode, notorious for its high
reactivity and propensity to form dendrites.
An enhancement in lifetime from less than 10 hours
to more than 1 700 hours was observed at moderate
current density.
“Lots of effort has been devoted to developing sodium-
ion batteries because sodium is cheaper than lithium,”
says Tu. “Although sodium-related battery technology
is still in the early stage, it is a part of the metal-based
battery family and is recognised to be promising.”
The research team plans to examine their hybrid anode
concept to understand the design rules for using
electrochemically active metals as artificial interfaces for
high-energy alkali metal anodes. They have also begun
efforts to optimise their anode design to facilitate larger-
scale deployment.
The research was supported by the US Department of
Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy,
and by the National Science Foundation.
Syl Kacapyr is public relations and content manager for the
College of Engineering.
www. africanmining.co.za
African Mining Publication
African Mining
African Mining October 2019
41