Sodium metal battery hits four-minute full charge with long-lasting stability

Chinese researchers report a sodium metal battery using a tough quasi-solid gel electrolyte (Sn-FB QSE) that can fully charge in four minutes and sustain capacity over thousands of hours; in tests, a zero-to-full charge retains about 80.1 mAh/g (roughly half of Li‑ion’s energy density), and charging in 20 minutes preserves ~90% of capacity after 2,000 cycles, indicating potential for cheaper, safer fast-charging EVs and devices. However, replication and scaling are needed before commercialization, and devices like smartphones may face temperature-related stability challenges.