Any foreigner who has spent time in China probably has a story or two about drinking baijiu – or at least knows someone who did. Over centuries, the clear, fiery and potent liquor has become the quintessential Chinese spirit.
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Now, scientists in China have tapped a potential – and unlikely – new use for the product, or rather the product’s by-product.
Researchers have turned leftover sediment from the distillation of baijiu into a material that improves the performance of sodium-ion batteries, a development that could help power the next generation of energy storage.
“This innovative low-cost, eco-friendly method holds promise for large-scale production once the technology matures,” said Professor Liu Xingquan, a project leader from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.
Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are considered a strong alternative to lithium-ion batteries due to their lower cost and safer design. They are increasingly used in energy storage systems and low-speed electric vehicles.
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Because sodium ions are larger than potassium ions, mainstream SIBs typically use hard carbon materials with larger internal pores as the anode instead of graphene, which is used in lithium-ion batteries.