What is a constituent ion?

A research group at the Tokyo University of Science, led by Associate Professor Shinichi Komaba, has confirmed that hard carbon obtained by pyrolyzing sucrose, the main constituent of sugar, is an effective anode material for sodium ion batteries. Currently, most rechargeable batteries are lithium ion batteries. However, Japan relies on imports for its entire supply of lithium, a rare metal.

Consequently lithium ion batteries are expensive. Sodium ion batteries are intended to overcome lithium's disadvantages of high price and scarcity. "In fact, the supply of sodium is unlimited.

Also, sodium ion batteries can be made using iron, aluminum, and sodium, rather than cobalt or copper as before. What's more, our results show that battery capacity can be increased simply by using carbon made from sugar as the anode. So high-performance batteries like expensive lithium batteries, which are an important type of rechargeable battery, may be achievable using cheaper, more abundant materials.