Research Development on Sodium-Ion Batteries

Energy production and storage technologies have attracted a great deal of attention for day-to-day applications. In recent decades, advances in lithium-ion battery (LIB) technology have improved living conditions around the globe. LIBs are used in most mobile electronic devices as well as in zero-emission electronic vehicles. However, there are increasing concerns regarding load leveling of renewable energy sources and the smart grid as well as the sustainability of lithium sources due to their limited availability and consequent expected price increase. Therefore, whether LIBs alone can satisfy the rising demand for small- and/or mid-to-large-format energy storage applications remains unclear. To mitigate these issues, recent research has focused on alternative energy storage systems. Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are considered as the best candidate power sources because sodium is widely available and exhibits similar chemistry to that of LIBs; therefore, SIBs are promising next-generation alternatives. Recently, sodiated layer transition metal oxides, phosphates and organic compounds have been introduced as cathode materials for SIBs. Simultaneously, recent developments have been facilitated by the use of select carbonaceous materials, transition metal oxides (or sulfides), and intermetallic and organic compounds as anodes for SIBs. Apart from electrode materials, suitable electrolytes, additives, and binders are equally important for the development of practical SIBs. Despite developments in electrode materials and other components, there remain several challenges, including cell design and electrode balancing, in the application of sodium ion cells. In this article, we summarize and discuss current research on materials and propose future directions for SIBs. This will provide important insights into scientific and practical issues in the development of SIBs.

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Sodium-ion batteries: present and future

Lithium (Li)-ion batteries (LIB) have governed the current worldwide rechargeable battery market due to their outstanding energy and power capability. In particular, the LIB's role in enabling electric vehicles (EVs) has been highlighted to replace the current oil-driven vehicles in order to reduce the usage of oil resources and generation of CO2 gases. Unlike Li, sodium is one of the more abundant elements on Earth and exhibits similar chemical properties to Li, indicating that Na chemistry could be applied to a similar battery system. In the 1970s-80s, both Na-ion and Li-ion electrodes were investigated, but the higher energy density of Li-ion cells made them more applicable to small, portable electronic devices, and research efforts for rechargeable batteries have been mainly concentrated on LIB since then. Recently, research interest in Na-ion batteries (NIB) has been resurrected, driven by new applications with requirements different from those in portable electronics, and to address the concern on Li abundance. In this article, both negative and positive electrode materials in NIB are briefly reviewed. While the voltage is generally lower and the volume change upon Na removal or insertion is larger for Na-intercalation electrodes, compared to their Li equivalents, the power capability can vary depending on the crystal structures. It is concluded that cost-effective NIB can partially replace LIB, but requires further investigation and improvement.

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Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Sodium-Ion Batteries: Potential Alternatives to Current Lithium-Ion Batteries

Room-temperature stationary sodium-ion batteries have attracted great attention particularly in large-scale electric energy storage applications for renewable energy and smart grid because of the huge abundant sodium resources and low cost. In this article, a variety of electrode materials including cathodes and anodes as well as electrolytes for room-temperature stationary sodium-ion batteries are briefly reviewed. We compare the difference in storage behavior between Na and Li in their analogous electrodes and summarize the sodium storage mechanisms in the available electrode materials. This review also includes some new results from our group and our thoughts on developing new materials. Some perspectives and directions on designing better materials for practical applications are pointed out based on knowledge from the literature and our experience. Through this extensive literature review, the search for suitable electrode and electrolyte materials for stationary sodium-ion batteries is still challenging. However, after intensive research efforts, we believe that low-cost, long-life and room-temperature sodium-ion batteries would be promising for applications in large-scale energy storage system in the near future.

Room-temperature stationary sodium-ion batteries for large-scale electric energy storage

Metal Oxides and Oxysalts as Anode Materials for Li Ion Batteries

A uniform nitrogen-doped carbon coating layer is formed on Li4Ti5O12 particles by mixing porous Li4Ti5O12 powder with an ionic liquid and then treating the mixture at moderate temperature. Uniformly coated Li4Ti5O12 is shown to have significantly improved rate capability and cycling performance for Li-ion batteries. This relatively simple approach is versatile and can be extended to modify other electrode materials for electrochemical devices.

Porous Li4Ti5O12 Coated with N‐Doped Carbon from Ionic Liquids for Li‐Ion Batteries

Carbon coated Na3V2(PO4)3 as novel electrode material for sodium ion batteries

National High Technology Research and Development Program of China [2009AA033101]; National Basic Research Program of China [2009CB220104]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [50972164]; Chinese Academy of Sciences Project [KJCX2-YW-W26]; Hundred-Talent Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Disodium Terephthalate (Na2C8H4O4) as High Performance Anode Material for Low-Cost Room-Temperature Sodium-Ion Battery

The full static picture of Li storage in Li4Ti5O12 is derived using the latest spherical aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and first-principles calculations. The accommodation of the additional Li+ is directly visualized and the distribution of electrons introduced by lithium insertion deduced. Moreover, Li4Ti5O12 is found to transform into Li7Ti5O12 on lithiation by developing a dislocation-free coherent hetero-interface.

Lithium Storage in Li4Ti5O12 Spinel: The Full Static Picture from Electron Microscopy

We investigate the effects of carbon coating, with and without nitrogen-dopants, on the electrochemical performance of a promising anode material Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) in lithium ion battery applications. The comparative experimental results show that LTO samples coated with nitrogen-doped carbon derived from pyridine and an ionic liquid exhibit significant improvements in rate capability and cycling performance compared with a LTO sample coated by carbon derived from toluene and the pristine LTO sample. For the first time, we construct an atomistic model for the interface between the lithium transition metal oxide and carbon coating layers. Our first-principles calculations based on density functional theory reveal that at this interface there is strong binding between the graphene coating layer and the Ti-terminated LTO surface, which significantly reduces the chemical activity of LTO surfaces and stabilizes the electrode/electrolyte interface, providing a clue to solve the swelling problem for LTO-based batteries. More importantly, electron transfer from the LTO surface to graphene greatly improves the electric conductivity of the interface. Nitrogen-dopants in graphene coatings further increase the interfacial stability and electric conductivity, which is beneficial to the electrochemical performance in energy storage applications.

Towards understanding the effects of carbon and nitrogen-doped carbon coating on the electrochemical performance of Li4Ti5O12 in lithium ion batteries: a combined experimental and theoretical study

Liang Zhao

Papers

Porous Li4Ti5O12 Coated with N‐Doped Carbon from Ionic Liquids for Li‐Ion Batteries

Carbon coated Na3V2(PO4)3 as novel electrode material for sodium ion batteries

Disodium Terephthalate (Na2C8H4O4) as High Performance Anode Material for Low-Cost Room-Temperature Sodium-Ion Battery

Lithium Storage in Li4Ti5O12 Spinel: The Full Static Picture from Electron Microscopy

Towards understanding the effects of carbon and nitrogen-doped carbon coating on the electrochemical performance of Li4Ti5O12 in lithium ion batteries: a combined experimental and theoretical study