Dendrite‐Free Sodium‐Metal Anodes for High‐Energy Sodium‐Metal Batteries

Sodium (Na) metal is one of the most promising electrode materials for next‐generation low‐cost rechargeable batteries. However, the challenges caused by dendrite growth on Na metal anodes restrict practical applications of rechargeable Na metal batteries. Herein, a nitrogen and sulfur co‐doped carb...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2018-07, Vol.30 (29), p.e1801334-n/a
Main Authors: Sun, Bing, Li, Peng, Zhang, Jinqiang, Wang, Dan, Munroe, Paul, Wang, Chengyin, Notten, Peter H. L., Wang, Guoxiu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anodes
Batteries
Carbon nanotubes
Cycles
dendrites
Dendritic structure
Electrochemical analysis
Electrode materials
Functional groups
Interlayers
Materials science
Morphology
Nanotubes
Nitrogen
Nucleation
nucleation and growth
Performance enhancement
Rechargeable batteries
Sodium
sodium‐metal anodes
sodium–oxygen batteries
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Summary:Sodium (Na) metal is one of the most promising electrode materials for next‐generation low‐cost rechargeable batteries. However, the challenges caused by dendrite growth on Na metal anodes restrict practical applications of rechargeable Na metal batteries. Herein, a nitrogen and sulfur co‐doped carbon nanotube (NSCNT) paper is used as the interlayer to control Na nucleation behavior and suppress the Na dendrite growth. The N‐ and S‐containing functional groups on the carbon nanotubes induce the NSCNTs to be highly “sodiophilic,” which can guide the initial Na nucleation and direct Na to distribute uniformly on the NSCNT paper. As a result, the Na‐metal‐based anode (Na/NSCNT anode) exhibits a dendrite‐free morphology during repeated Na plating and striping and excellent cycling stability. As a proof of concept, it is also demonstrated that the electrochemical performance of sodium–oxygen (Na–O2) batteries using the Na/NSCNT anodes show significantly improved cycling performances compared with Na–O2 batteries with bare Na metal anodes. This work opens a new avenue for the development of next‐generation high‐energy‐density sodium‐metal batteries. A sodium‐metal‐based anode combining a nitrogen and sulfur co‐doped carbon nanotube (NSCNT) paper and sodium‐metal foil is developed, which exhibits high Coulombic efficiency and excellent cycling stability. The NSCNT papers are sodiophilic, and they guide the initial Na nucleation and direct the sodium to distribute uniformly in the porous NSCNT paper without dendrite formation.
ISSN:0935-9648
1521-4095
DOI:10.1002/adma.201801334