Fabrication of pitch-derived hard carbon

Summary: Scientists are working on better, cheaper batteries that use sodium instead of lithium. To make the battery parts, they use a cheap, carbon-rich material called "pitch." The problem is that when they heat the pitch to harden it, it turns into a type of carbon that doesn't hold much power. To fix this, researchers added a chemical called bromine before baking it. This new method stops the bad carbon from forming and creates a much more powerful battery part!