Congratulations to PhD student Zhang Jun and postdoctoral fellow Li Kaikai from Hong Kong Polytechnic University on their joint work on sodium ion battery ether electrolyte “Evolution of the electrochemical interface in sodium ion batteries with ether electrolytes” being published in the top international journal Nature Communications!
This work systematically studies and explains the optimization effect of ether electrolyte on the electrochemical reaction characteristics of the electrode/electrolyte interface of sodium ion battery. The electrochemical properties of ether electrolytes for improving the performance of sodium ion batteries were investigated deeply. By choosing several kinds of anode materials which are the most representative, this work reveals the differences of the structural evolution (sodiation depth) in different electrolyte system through characterization methods like in situ Raman and X-ray diffraction, and finds that the charge transfer process that occurs at the electrode/electrolyte interface is the direct influence factor of the sodiation depth. Moreover, the reaction energy barrier in ether electrolyte is far less than in ester electrolyte. This work will provide a new understanding and thinking for the practical application of ether electrolytes in the field of sodium electricity, and contribute to the research and development of new organic electrolytes for high-performance and high-efficiency metal ion batteries.
The co-authors of the paper are Li Kaikai and Zhang Jun. This work is completed by Tsinghua University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Shanghai University, Tianjin University and The University of New South Wales. Prof. Yang Quan-Hong, Prof. Zhou Limin and Academician Zhang Tongyi are corresponding authors.