--- title: Solving the solvent problem | daily.dev description: MIT researchers have identified a new electrolyte solvent called DMFSA that addresses the core challenge in sodium-metal batteries: achieving both long-term... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/solving-the-solvent-problem-0oijwvji0 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Solving the solvent problem | daily.dev og:description: MIT researchers have identified a new electrolyte solvent called DMFSA that addresses the core challenge in sodium-metal batteries: achieving both long-term... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/solving-the-solvent-problem-0oijwvji0 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/0OIjwvJI0.png og:image:alt: Solving the solvent problem og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Solving the solvent problem **[MIT News](https://daily.dev/sources/mit)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MIT researchers have identified a new electrolyte solvent called DMFSA that addresses the core challenge in sodium-metal batteries: achieving both long-term stability and fast charging/discharging. Sodium is ~1,000x more abundant and ~100x cheaper than lithium, making it attractive for scalable energy storage. The team used an AI-guided algorithm to generate 100,000 candidate molecules in 24 hours, narrowing them down through technical criteria and experimental testing. The winning solvent DMFSA is smaller than the previously identified DMTMSA, enabling faster ion transport while maintaining electrode stability. Beyond sodium batteries, the research introduces a broader electrolyte design principle based on solvent size and molecular similarity. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. 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