A novel combination of hard carbon anode sodium pre-loading and a tailored electrolyte is used to prepare room temperature sodium-sulfur full cell batteries. The electrochemical loading with sodium ions is realized in a specifi c mixture of diethyl carbonate, ethylene carbonate, and fl uoroethylene carbonate electrolyte in order to create a fi rst solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the anode surface. Combining such anodes with a porous carbon/sulfur composite cathode results in full cells with a signifi cantly decreased polysulfi de shuttle when compared to half cells combined with metallic sodium anodes. Further optimization involves the use of Na 2 S/P 2 S 5 doped tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether based electrolyte in the full cell for the formation of a second SEI, reducing polysulfi de shuttle even further. More importantly, the electrochemical discharge processes in the cell are improved by adding this dissolved complexation agent to the electrolyte. As a result of this combination sodium-sulfur cells with tailored cathode materials and electrolytes can achieve high discharge capacities up to 980 mAh g −1 sulfur and 1000 cycles with 200 mAh g −1 sulfur remaining capacity, at room temperature.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.