Environmental Impact Assessment of Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ Cathode Production for Sodium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

Sodium‐ion batteries (NIBs) are key enablers of sustainable energy storage. NIBs use Earth‐abundant materials and are technologically viable to replace lithium‐ion batteries in the medium term. Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 , as a popular cathode for NIBs, requires further improvements to boost its electrochemical performance, particularly regarding the rate capability and operational lifetime. These strategies involve the incorporation of carbonaceous materials, heteroatom doping, morphology modification, or biopolymer incorporation. Considering the circular economy actions to foster environmentally sustainable battery industries, there is an urgent need to disclose the environmental impacts of battery production. A cradle‐to‐gate life cycle assessment methodology is used to quantify, analyze, and compare the environmental impacts of ten representative state‐of‐the‐art Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 cathodes. Impacts are disclosed for 18 indicators normalized to 1 kg of cathode considering laboratory‐scale approaches. Global warming potential values of 423.9–1380.0 kg CO 2 ‐equiv. kg cathode −1 and 539.8–1622.1 kg CO 2 ‐equiv. kWh cathode −1 are obtained considering Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 /Na half‐cell configuration. Simple carbon additives mixed with NVP provide a good CO 2 footprint‐to‐storage capacity balance, although the sacrificed capacity retention hinders reuse strategies. A sensitivity analysis demonstrates a 16.9–38.0% reduction transitioning from fossil‐based to renewable‐based energy mix. Herein, it is aimed to support battery developers and assist future advances in the development of sustainable cathodes applied into beyond‐Li‐ion technologies.