sodium
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GC: n

CT: Scientists have designed a new type of cathode that could make the mass production of sodium batteries more feasible. Batteries based on plentiful and low-cost sodium are of great interest to both scientists and industry as they could facilitate a more cost-efficient production process for grid-scale energy storage systems, consumer electronics and electric vehicles. The discovery was a collaborative effort between researchers at the Institute of Chemistry (IOC) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Lithium batteries are commonly found in consumer electronics such as smartphones and laptop computers, but in recent years, the electric vehicle industry also began using lithium batteries, significantly increasing the demand on existing lithium resources.

S: REW – https://goo.gl/eWboZU (last access: 18 November 2017)

N: 1. Coined by English chemist Humphry Davy from soda; so called because the element was isolated from caustic soda (sodium hydroxide). The chemical symbol Na is from natrium, alternative name for the element proposed by Berzelius from natron, a name of a type of soda. Symbol: Na, taken from the Latin word natrium. CAS number: 7440-23-5.
2. Sodium is between lithium and potassium in group Ia of the periodic table. The element is a soft, reactive, low-melting metal with a specific gravity of 0.97 at 20°C. Sodium is commercially the most important alkali metal.
3. Sodium is a term adopted by Environment Canada; used in the list of pollutants measured in the National Air Pollution Surveillance Network (NAPS).
4. This term is also known under the commercial designations UN 1428 and UN 1429.
5. The metal is made on a large scale by the electrolysis of molten sodum chloride mixed with calcium chloride. It reacts vigorously with water with formation of hydrogen and sodium hydroxide and the strong evolution of heat, and should be kept out of contact with water, as well as with air and oxygen. It readily forms compounds with the halogens, oxygen, and many other nonmetals, and alloys with a large number of metals, especially lead and mercury. Its chief uses are in the manufacture of tetraethyl lead and other organic and inorganic chemicals; the production of several metals, e.g., titanium and zirconium; as a heat-transfer agent (liquid) in reactors; and in electric power conduction. Sodium ion is essential to man and other animals whose chief intake of it is in the form of sodium chloride. Sodium is dangerous to handle, as it is corrosive to the skin, and also flammable when exposed to heat.

S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/word/sodium; BTB – https://goo.gl/uK8JAU (last access: 11.17.2017). 2. BTB- https://goo.gl/uK8JAU (last access: 11.17.2017). 3. BTB – https://goo.gl/uK8JAU (last access: 11.17.2017). 4. BTB – https://goo.gl/uK8JAU (last access: 11.17.2017). 5. GDT – http://www.granddictionnaire.com/ficheOqlf.aspx?Id_Fiche=8426103 (last access: 11.17.2017).

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CR: grey hydrogen, sulfuric acid.