For the first time in 50 years, the theoretical advantages of a liquid sodium battery — cheap, abundant materials, safe operation, and the ability to cope with many charge/discharge cycles without degrading — could be translated into a commercially viable product. Sadoway says the new steel mesh membrane could work with a wide variety of molten electrode battery chemistries, which could make many new battery designs possible. The new technology is too heavy and bulky for use in electric vehicles or laptop computers, but it would be ideal for grid scale battery storage.
MIT Group May Have Solved The Liquid Sodium Battery Conundrum | CleanTechnica
Thus, tremendous effort has gone into battery development in recent years. The effort is paying off, with prices for battery cells falling by 70 percent between 2012 and 2017, according to PV Magazine. But costs need to continue to decline to make widespread use of utility-scale battery storage a reality... Professor Zimmerman’s work has been done mostly in stealth. The NOVA special was reportedly the first television interview he had done on his work. He has formed a company, Ionic Materials, and recently raised $65 million to commercialize this solid-state battery. (Jump to the 30:40 mark in the video to see the portion on Professor Zimmerman’s work).