Advanced rechargeable sodium ion batteries an electrode engineering approach

Abstract

Sodium-ion batteries are a relevant potential energy storage system along with the existing lithium ones because of the low cost and sodium abundance in the earth s crust. Since Sodium is also in the alkaline group like lithium, they possess similar chemical, physical, and electrochemical properties [1]. Due to their high charge storing capacity and engineering flexibility, lithium-ion batteries dominate the current portable electronics and electric vehicles market [1]. Due to the scarcity of lithium sources, in addition to those of Nickel and Cobalt, and the high cost of such mined metals, it is time to find alternatives. The mining techniques for lithium, Cobalt or manganese involve concentrated acid treatments from both fuels and wastewater resources. Environmental pollution and vast mining and transport costs make lithium-ion batteries expensive. On the other hand, simple seawater evaporation for Sodium using conventional extraction techniques is cheap. Also, sodium resources are distributed all over the globe, which reduces the need for transportation and related expenses [2]. Graphite anodes used in lithium is incompatible with sodium batteries due to the large size of sodium ions (1.02 for Na+ and 0.76 Å for Li+) [3, 4]. So, we need to look into a much more porous material that can accommodate Sodium. The main objective of this thesis is to study the use of different types of alloy and intercalation-based anodes compatible with prototype sodium rechargeable batteries to enhance the gravimetric specific capacity and cycle number. More specifically, we have focused on the anode architectural modifications to facilitate the same. newlineThe thesis is organised as follows: newlineWe begin the thesis by presenting an overall introduction to the subject of rechargeable battery technology and sodium storage. Chapter 1. Here, we first give a brief understanding of energy storage. The evolution of all the battery technologies established and the possibilities of developing a secondary battery out of sodium are vastly discussed.