Interface engineering and mechanism understanding for Na metal anode

联合国2015年《巴黎协定》提供了一个减少温室气体排放的框架，从而将全球平均气温的上升限制在比工业化前水平高2摄氏度的范围内。加拿大政府将从2035年起禁止销售燃油汽车和轻型卡车，以期在2050年前在全国实现净零排放。此外，到2025年，电动汽车的销量将占汽车市场的30%，电池组的市场规模将增长到1000亿美元以上。加拿大作为第十大汽车生产国和第十大电动汽车销售市场，一直是这一市场的主要参与者。锂离子电池(LIBS)是便携式电子产品和电动汽车(EV)最常用的储能系统之一。不幸的是，锂在地壳中并不被认为是一种丰富的元素，而且锂化合物的成本在过去几年也迅速增加，导致锂的价格上涨。由于钠的丰度高、成本低、氧化还原电位合适，金属钠负极具有理论容量高、电化学电位低、重量轻等优点，是最理想的金属钠电池负极材料。然而，Na金属阳极面临的主要挑战是Na枝晶的生长和电解液与Na阳极之间不稳定的界面。表面和界面工程是减少Na枝晶生长和提高电化学性能的关键。为了全面了解所涉及的机理，我们将与密歇根大学迪尔伯恩分校的陈博士团队合作，制定一个闭环研究计划，结合实验设计和理论模拟来了解钠金属阳极界面的电化学-化学-机械稳定性。该项目的成功完成将通过转让新的知识、专门知识和技术，为加拿大的科学、工业和社会发展带来重大好处。

The United Nation's 2015 Paris Agreement provides a framework to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and thereby limit the increase in global average temperature to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. The Canadian government will ban the sales of fuel-burning vehicles and light-duty trucks starting 2035 to reach net-zero emissions across the country by 2050. In addition, the sales of electric vehicles will weigh 30% of the automobile market by 2025, the market size for battery packs will grow to over $100B. Canada, as the tenth-largest auto manufacturer and the tenth-largest market of EVs sales, has been a major player in this market. Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are one of the most popular energy storage systems for portable electronics and electrical vehicles (EVs). Unfortunately, Li is not regarded as an abundant element in the Earth's crust and the costs of Li compounds have also rapidly increased in the past years, resulting in increased prices for LIBs. Due to the high abundance, low cost, and suitable redox potential of sodium (Na), The Na metal anode is the most desirable anode for the Na metal batteries due to its high theoretical capacity, low electrochemical potential and lightweight. However, the major challenges for the Na metal anode are the Na dendrite growth and the unstable interface between electrolytes and the Na anode. Surface and interface engineering are the keys to achieving reduced Na dendrite growth and enhanced electrochemical performances. To have a full understanding of the mechanisms involved, we will collaborate with Dr. Chen's group at the University of Michigan-Dearborn to develop a closed-loop research plan to understand the electrochemical-chemical-mechanical stability of the interfaces for Na metal anode combing the experimental design and theoretical simulations. Successful completion of the project will provide significant benefits to Canada's scientific, industrial and social development by transferring new knowledge, expertise and technologies.