New Insights on the Conversion Reaction Mechanism in Metal Oxide Electrodes for Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Jadra Mosa,Mario Aparicio,Agustín R González-Elipe,Francisco José García-García

doi:10.3390/nano11040966

Abstract

Due to the abundance and low cost of exchanged metal, sodium-ion batteries have attracted increasing research attention for the massive energy storage associated with renewable energy sources. Nickel oxide (NiO) thin films have been prepared by magnetron sputtering (MS) deposition under an oblique angle configuration (OAD) and used as electrodes for Na-ion batteries. A systematic chemical, structural and electrochemical analysis of this electrode has been carried out. The electrochemical characterization by galvanostatic charge–discharge cycling and cyclic voltammetry has revealed a certain loss of performance after the initial cycling of the battery. The conversion reaction of NiO with sodium ions during the discharge process to generate sodium oxide and Ni metal has been confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and micro-Raman analysis. Likewise, it has been determined that the charging process is not totally reversible, causing a reduction in battery capacity.

Highlights

Lithium-ion batteries have been rapidly developed and currently dominate the secondary battery market
We propose the synthesis and analysis of the behavior of a new kind of porous and nanocolumnar Nickel oxide (NiO) electrode without the presence of other materials such as carbon that may intervene in the process of the insertion–extraction of sodium ions
It is worth noting that the presence of the tilted orientation of these nanocolumns is a characteristic feature of magnetron sputtering (MS)-OAD thin films, as a result of the enhancement of shadowing effects at the nanoscale during the deposition process [27]

Summary

Introduction

Lithium-ion batteries have been rapidly developed and currently dominate the secondary battery market. Because of the massive energy storage associated with renewable energy sources, sodium-ion batteries have the advantage of using an abundant and low-cost exchanged metal [1,2,3,4]. In this context, carbon materials are the most widely used components of anodes in lithium-ion batteries, different studies indicate a limited insertion capacity of sodium ions in these types of materials [5,6,7]. The charge–discharge process is carried out only through the following single-stage conversion reaction: iations

Methods

Results

Conclusion