Revealing the Inside of a Nanoscale Na-ion Battery: New Understanding on Sodium Intercalation in Cathodes

揭示纳米级钠离子电池的内部：对阴极钠嵌入的新认识

• 批准号: 1619743
• 负责人: Reza Shahbazian- Yassar
• 金额: $ 27.38万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Chicago
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-08-16 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1619743&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Revealing; Inside; Nanoscale; Na; ion

The research objective of this grant is to advance the understanding of the underlying mechanisms that are active in Na-ion reactions in electrodes and chemically-induced failure and fracture in Na-ion batteries. For this purpose, the cathode electrode will be subjected to electrochemical probing inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM) where the microstructure of electrodes can be simultaneously monitored in high resolution. Room-temperature rechargeable Na-ion batteries can be competitive to Li-ion batteries due to their lower cost and the widespread availability of the sodium resources. While tremendous research is focused on Li-ion batteries worldwide, scientific challenges associated with room-temperature rechargeable sodium-ion batteries have been relatively unexplored. This is of prime importance considering that Li resources are very limited and their price has increased continuously during the past 20 years. The challenges of Na-ion batteries are much more complicated than the Li-ion case, as Na-ions are larger than Li-ions by 70 percent, which induces large mechanical stresses upon driving the Na-ions into the host electrode. The entry of sodium into the electrodes triggers complicated chemical reactions and failures that are poorly understood, and the battery life is reduced drastically.An important challenge in the broad use of Na-ion batteries is the very low cycling stability in service conditions. Through this grant, the PI will investigate several unresolved scientific challenges in new cathode materials which, if successfully resolved, could enable the commercialization of long lasting rechargeable Na-ion battery technologies. Several venues for integrating research with undergraduate education and outreach activities are proposed. Female and minority students for undergraduate education will be exposed to this research project through simple introductions to the battery subject. Other outreach activities are also planned for local high school female and underrepresented students. Real time videos of microscopy experiments will be produced and made available to the community via YouTube© and selected scientific networks.

这项资助的研究目标是促进对电极中na离子反应和na离子电池化学诱导失效和断裂的潜在机制的理解。为此，阴极电极将在透射电子显微镜（TEM）内进行电化学探测，透射电子显微镜可以同时以高分辨率监测电极的微观结构。室温可充电钠离子电池由于其较低的成本和钠资源的广泛可用性，可以与锂离子电池竞争。虽然世界范围内对锂离子电池进行了大量的研究，但与室温可充电钠离子电池相关的科学挑战却相对未被探索。这一点至关重要，因为锂资源非常有限，而且在过去20年里，它们的价格不断上涨。钠离子电池的挑战比锂离子电池要复杂得多，因为钠离子比锂离子大70%，在驱动钠离子进入主电极时，会产生很大的机械应力。钠进入电极会引发复杂的化学反应和故障，人们对这些反应知之甚少，电池寿命也会大幅缩短。钠离子电池广泛应用的一个重要挑战是在使用条件下非常低的循环稳定性。通过这笔拨款，PI将研究新阴极材料中几个尚未解决的科学挑战，如果成功解决，可以实现持久可充电钠离子电池技术的商业化。提出了几个将研究与本科教育和推广活动相结合的场所。本科女生和少数民族学生将通过对电池课题的简单介绍来接触这个研究项目。还计划为当地高中女生和代表性不足的学生开展其他外展活动。将制作显微镜实验的实时视频，并通过YouTube©和选定的科学网络向社区提供。