New Patent? - Process for the Recovery of Sodium Hydroxide, page-11

A relevant earlier paper from Murdoch University was published in 2012.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235432047_Looking_beyond_lithium-ion_technology_-_Aqueous_NaOH_battery

"The objective of this work is to investigate a water based sodium battery technology. The new concept proposed here for an aqueous rechargeable battery is replacing lithium hydroxide with a sodium hydroxide electrolyte in the patented technology developed at Murdoch University. Alternative energy storage system using abundantly available sodium as the aqueous electrolyte coupled with Zn anode and environmentally friendly MnO2 cathode are investigated and found feasible. Sodium intercalation and de-intercalation mechanism is identified in MnO2|NaOH|Zn cell yielding 225 against 142 mAh/g for LiOH counterpart. The preliminary studies of the aqueous NaOH battery showed improved energy density and voltaic efficiency."

However, it seems the investigation is preceded by at least US patent 6,013,192 from 2000, and others prior.
US6013192_Sodium hydroxide electrolyte.pdf

Rather than ground-break, this patent application may be more related to prudence on behalf of the applicants.