Issue 1, 2017

Exceptional energy and new insight with a sodium–selenium battery based on a carbon nanosheet cathode and a pseudographite anode

Abstract

We created a unique sodium ion battery (NIB, SIB) cathode based on selenium in cellulose-derived carbon nanosheets (CCNs), termed Se-CCN. The elastically compliant two-dimensional CCN host incorporates a high mass loading of amorphous Se (53 wt%), which is primarily impregnated into 1 cm3 g−1 nanopores. The results in facile sodiation kinetics due to short solid-state diffusion distances and a large charge transfer area of the nanosheets were established. The architecture also leads to an intrinsic resistance to polyselenide shuttle and to disintegration/coarsening. As a Na half-cell, the Se-CCN cathode delivers a reversible capacity of 613 mA h g−1 with 88% retention over 500 cycles. The exceptional stability is achieved by using a standard electrolyte (1 M NaClO4 EC-DMC) without secondary additives or high salt concentrations. The rate capability is also superb, achieving 300 mA h g−1 at 10C. Compared to recent state-of-the-art literature, the Se-CCN is the most cyclically stable and offers the highest rate performance. As a Se–Na battery, the system achieves 992 W h kg−1 at 68 W kg−1 and 384 W h kg−1 at 10 144 W kg−1 (by active mass in a cathode). We are the first to fabricate and test a Se-based full NIB, which is based on Se-CCN coupled to a Na intercalating pseudographitic carbon (PGC) anode. It is demonstrated that the PGC anode increases its structural order in addition to dilating as a result of Na intercalation at voltages below 0.2 V vs. Na/Na+. The {110} Na reflections are distinctly absent from the XRD patterns of PGC sodiated down to 0.001 V, indicating that the Na metal pore filling is not significant for pseudographitic carbons. The battery delivers highly promising Ragone chart characteristics, for example yielding 203 and 50 W h kg−1 at 70 and 14 000 W kg−1 (via total material mass in the anode and cathode).

Graphical abstract: Exceptional energy and new insight with a sodium–selenium battery based on a carbon nanosheet cathode and a pseudographite anode

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Aug 2016
Accepted
20 Sep 2016
First published
29 Sep 2016

Energy Environ. Sci., 2017,10, 153-165

Exceptional energy and new insight with a sodium–selenium battery based on a carbon nanosheet cathode and a pseudographite anode

J. Ding, H. Zhou, H. Zhang, T. Stephenson, Z. Li, D. Karpuzov and D. Mitlin, Energy Environ. Sci., 2017, 10, 153 DOI: 10.1039/C6EE02274J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements