Cellulose nanofiber‐derived carbon aerogel for advanced room‐temperature sodium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

Room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT/Na-S) batteries are regarded as promising large-scale stationary energy storage systems owing to their high energy density and low cost as well as the earth-abundant reserves of sodium and sulfur. However, the diffusion of polysulfides and sluggish kinetics of conversion reactions are still major challenges for their application. Herein, we developed a powerful and functional separator to inhibit the shuttle effect by coating a lightweight three-dimensional cellulose nanofiber-derived carbon aerogel on a glass fiber separator (denoted NSCA@GF). The hierarchical porous structures, favorable electronic conductivity, and three-dimensional interconnected network of N,S-codoped carbon aerogel endow a multifunctional separator with strong polysulfide anchoring capability and fast reaction kinetics of polysulfide conversion, which can act as the barrier layer and an expanded current collector to increase sulfur utilization. Moreover, the hetero-doped N/S sites are believed to strengthen polysulfide anchoring capability via chemisorption and accelerate the redox kinetics of polysulfide conversion, which is confirmed from experimental and theoretical results. As a result, the assembled Na-S coin cells with the NSCA@GF separator showed a high reversible capacity (788.8 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C after 100 cycles) and superior cycling stability (only 0.059% capacity decay per cycle over 1000 cycles at 1 C), thereby demonstrating the significant potential for application in high-performance RT/Na-S batteries.

Heteroatom-Rich Hierarchical Porous Biomass Carbon for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

“…38 The intensity ratio (I D /I G ) reflects the defect degree of carbon materials, where a higher ratio indicates more disordered graphite. 39,40 The I D /I G value of ABC-N-CF was higher than those of ABC−CF and CF, demonstrating that the defect degree progressively increased because of the presence of the ABC catalyst on the CF surface, which is in good agreement with the XRD results. Particularly, the G band of ABC-N-CF displayed a slight upshift to 1590 cm −1 , which is caused by heteroatoms doping.…”

Eco-Friendly Lithium Separators: A Frontier Exploration of Cellulose-Based Materials

“…The aerogel method is used to convert a cellulose slurry into cellulose aerogel by the ultrasonic or spray method and then compress it into a membrane to form a cellulose separator [198,199]. To address the toxic solvents generated during the preparation of cellulose-based lithium battery separators, Liao et al [164] prepared a cellulose aerogelcoated PP separator based on hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC).…”

Renewable biomass-based aerogels: from structural design to functional regulation

“…Biomass materials are renewable and sustainable carbon precursors in the production of carbon aerogels, which exhibit huge potential in various applications, such as catalysis, 186 energy storage, 187 electrodes, 188 batteries, 189,190 and sensors. 191 Here, we primarily focus on the use of biomass-based carbon aerogels in the realms of batteries and electrochemistry.…”