High-performance room-temperature sodium-sulfur battery enabled by electrocatalytic sodium polysulfides full conversion

Room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT-Na-S) batteries are highly desirable for grid-scale stationary energy storage due to their low cost; however, short cycling stability caused by the incomplete conversion of sodium polysulfides is a major issue for their application. Herein, we introduce an effectiv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energy & environmental science 2020-02, Vol.13 (2), p.562-57
Main Authors: Wang, Nana, Wang, Yunxiao, Bai, Zhongchao, Fang, Zhiwei, Zhang, Xiao, Xu, Zhongfei, Ding, Yu, Xu, Xun, Du, Yi, Dou, Shixue, Yu, Guihua
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Batteries
Carbon
Cathodes
Conversion
Cycles
Energy storage
Gold
Microspheres
Polysulfides
Reaction kinetics
Room temperature
Sodium
Stability
Storage batteries
Sulfur
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Summary:Room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT-Na-S) batteries are highly desirable for grid-scale stationary energy storage due to their low cost; however, short cycling stability caused by the incomplete conversion of sodium polysulfides is a major issue for their application. Herein, we introduce an effective sulfiphilic host, gold nanodots decorated on hierarchical N-doped carbon microspheres (CN/Au/S), to achieve completely reversible conversion reactions in the S cathode by electrocatalyzing the low-kinetics conversion of Na 2 S 4 into NaS 2 (discharge process) or S (charge process). Besides, gold nanodots and N-doped carbon can increase the conductivity of the S cathode and provide strong polar-polar adsorption of sodium polysulfides to alleviate the shuttling effects. When serving as the cathode, the CN/Au/S composite can realize enhanced sulfur utilization, excellent cycling stability, and outstanding rate capability. This work deepens our understanding of the catalytic effect of gold atoms on sulfur molecules, opening a new avenue for cathode design and development of advanced RT-Na-S batteries. Developing novel gold nanoclusters as an electrocatalyst can facilitate a completely reversible reaction between S and Na, achieving advanced high-energy-density room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries.
ISSN:1754-5692
1754-5706
DOI:10.1039/c9ee03251g