Solar scientists found that the sodium ion battery energy storage mechanism of the anode

From skolkovo institute of science and technology ( Skoltech） And Moscow state university ( 密歇根州立大学) Scientists have identified with sodium ion batteries, SIB) Of charge storage in anode materials related to the electrochemical reaction type, this is a kind of promising new electrochemical power source. Their research results and the team development of anode manufacturing methods will help to make the SIB and elsewhere in Russia closer to commercialization process. The research is published in the Electrochimica Acta.

today, lithium ion battery, 自由) Is the most popular electrochemical power source, is widely used in from the phone ( A few watts) To plant buffer system ( Millions of watts) All kinds of fields. Demand for lithium ion batteries and storage equipment of the average size is growing, the growth trend, however, had multiple barriers, such as the high cost of lithium, lithium reserves is limited in the world and the countries lithium ore deposit distribution is not equal. In order to overcome these barriers, including Russia, the world, scientists are studying the SIB alternative technologies that may challenge the LIB and widespread use of lead-acid batteries.

sodium is the sixth most common elements in the crust. Compared with lithium, the salt price is about 100 times cheaper. Although on chemical properties similar to those of lithium, solar equipment, there will be other differences, but sodium which requires the new method is used in the design of the SIB. Battery is made up of three main parts: cathode, anode and electrolyte. Composition and structure of cathode and electrolyte has a wide range of diversity, and the anode is still a stumbling block. Successfully used in the LIB graphite cannot be applied to the SIB, because carbon hexagon and sodium cation size difference is too big, solar portal, cannot provide mezzanine. Hard carbon anode material used seems to be the only way to truly. Formed by irregular arrangement of distortion of graphite shape layer showed hard carbon and graphite in the LIB is sodium ion storage performance, but still don't know why and how this happens.

how about sodium was introduced into hard carbon, there are several hypotheses. In our study, we validate and slightly expanded the one of the assumptions. We found that the solar energy, hard carbon showed sandwich-like behavior, to accumulate most charge, this is good news. Sandwich was batteries needed, and associated with false capacitance surface process is the responsibility of the super capacitor, it formed in the course of chemical power source is a very narrow space for development. It is interesting to note that our colleagues in Japan, also is our main researchers and MSU doctoral research mentor Zoya Bobyleva hold completely different views from the start. He was the SIB in the world and one of the top experts in the field of hard carbon, solar energy, it is difficult to convince him that we are right, but we did it! Skoltech energy technology center ( CEST） And the MSU project director and senior research scientist Oleg Drozhzhin said.

last year, the Nobel Prize for chemistry was awarded to three scientists development of lithium ion battery. One of the winners thanks to hard carbon, this kind of negative electrode materials in about 30 years ago brought life to lithium ion battery technology, later replaced by the graphite. Now, solar energy, hard carbon can once again gave rise to a new technology.

this job is very great, not only shows the hard carbon in sodium ion system working principle, and found a way to produce the graphite in the LIB capacity rather than 300 mah/g hard carbon. Create and optimize a new method takes a lot of hard work, and these efforts are usually stays behind the scenes, there is almost no reported in scientific papers, so for us, it is very important to show the final results: we successfully created a good SIB anode material, we know how they work. The MSU college of chemistry electrochemical dean, professor Skoltech Evgeny Antipov commented.