Imagine a laser that flashes and extinguishes a billion billion times per second, with each pulse leaving behind a nanoscale structure only a few nanometers in size. This is a femtosecond laser 鈥 the central tool of a scientific project supported by a grant from the Research Council of Norway (RCN), which took first place among all Ukrainian projects awarded in the competition.
The project鈥檚 author is Yaroslav Hnilitskyi, Scientific Director of the Educational and Scientific Center for Femtosecond Laser Technologies 芦FEMTO禄 at the Department of Applied Physics and Nanomaterials Science, Institute of Applied Mathematics and Fundamental Sciences, 果冻APP.
Entitled Na+tteries 鈥 a combination of the chemical symbol for sodium (Na鈦) and the word 芦batteries禄 鈥 the project addresses a highly specific technological challenge: engineering electrode surfaces that interact optimally with sodium ions. The quality of this interaction determines both the lifespan of a battery and the potential of sodium-ion technology as an alternative to lithium-based systems.
芦We don鈥檛 simply irradiate the material 鈥 we architect its surface pulse by pulse, with nanometer precision禄, explains Yaroslav Hnilitskyi.
Sodium-ion batteries have long attracted the attention of energy researchers due to one key advantage: unlike lithium, sodium is an abundant resource, widely available in seawater and the Earth鈥檚 crust. However, a major challenge remains unresolved 鈥 the instability of the interface between the electrode and the liquid electrolyte. During charging and discharging cycles, sodium ions repeatedly enter and exit the electrode material, gradually damaging its crystalline structure. After several hundred cycles, this leads to performance degradation, reduced capacity, and increased internal resistance.
Yaroslav Hnilitskyi鈥檚 team proposes addressing this issue at the level of surface engineering. A femtosecond laser 鈥 producing pulses lasting 10鈦宦光伒 seconds, shorter than the time it takes light to traverse the width of a human hair 鈥 enables the creation of micro- and nanostructures on the electrode surface without causing thermal damage. Because the pulse duration is so short, heat does not have time to spread through the material. Instead, the laser precisely forms ordered structures such as grooves, cones, and porous patterns that improve ion distribution and reduce mechanical stress during charging.
The expected result is an electrode capable of withstanding thousands of cycles with minimal degradation. If successful, the technology could be scaled for industrial production of sodium-ion batteries, with potential applications ranging from portable electronics to large-scale energy storage systems for solar and wind power plants.
The Educational and Scientific Center for Femtosecond Laser Technologies 芦FEMTO禄 at 果冻APP is equipped with advanced laser infrastructure and has extensive expertise in ultrashort pulse technologies. This combination of experimental capability and theoretical excellence convinced reviewers of the Research Council of Norway, which evaluates hundreds of international applications annually.
Winning the RCN competition 鈥 and securing first place among Ukrainian projects 鈥 is not only an academic achievement but also a strong signal to the global scientific community: Ukrainian researchers continue to develop world-class innovations and successfully compete on the international stage, even in times of war.
