Hu Yongsheng

New Capabilities

Lead researcher on the Nature Energy study

Every rechargeable battery in every electric car carries this vulnerability: if something goes wrong — a puncture, defect, or short circuit — temperatures spike and trigger thermal runaway, a self-feeding chain reaction producing toxic smoke, fire, and sometimes explosions. A team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences published in Nature Energy results on a sodium-ion battery with an electrolyte that automatically solidifies into a physical barrier when heat exceeds 150 degrees Celsius, cutting off thermal runaway before it starts. The battery survived nail-puncture and 300-degree-Celsius oven tests without smoke, fire, or explosion, a first for large-format sodium-ion cells.

Updated May 31