Challenge and Strategies in Room Temperature Sodium–Sulfur Batteries: A Comparison with Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

most widely and regarded as potential candidates, considering their higher theoretical gravimetric energy density (Li-S: 2615 Wh kg −1 , Na-S: 1673 Wh kg −1 ) than that of Li-ion (Lithium ion) batteries. [2] Despite possessing about twice the theoretical gravimetric and volumetric energy densities of Na-S batteries (Figure 1b), the sustainable development of Li-S batteries is still constrained by the low earth abundance (0.0017 wt%) and the resultant fastly rising price of lithium (Li) source. [3] Not only that, the main Li source, lithium carbonate, is usually prepared by the single production method, which is highly dependent on salt lake brines concentrated in South America geographically. [4] In sharp contrast, sodium (Na) sources are abundant (2.3 wt%) and scattered all over the world, as well as they can be prepared industrially in various ways, which will bring economic benefits. Therefore, although no substantial improvements in energy density and long-term durability are realized via switching to Na as the Li alternative in metal-sulfur batteries, developing Na-S batteries is more available for mitigating geostrategic and geo-economic competition and solving long-term energy bottlenecks in terms of technoeconomics. [3,5] Moreover, different from Li metal possessing high reaction activity to aluminum (Al), Na metal anode does not react with Al so that light and cheap Al foil can be used as the alternative anode current collector to Cu counterpart in the Na-S system, which could heighten gravimetric energy density and reduce cost, especially in pouch cells.Both Li and Na are alkali metals and have body-centered cubic crystal structures. These similarities in fundamental characteristics make Na metal possess similar physical and chemical properties to Li metal, such as high reaction activity, low melt temperature, vulnerability to the plastic deformation below the low yield strength, on the other hand, cause similar issues when Na or Li metal anodes are coupled with S cathode to assemble metal-sulfur batteries. [5] Subjected to the imperfection of alkali anode and S cathode, several similar challenges must be overcome for the practical application of Li-S and Na-S batteries, including uncontrollable growth of Li or Na dendrites, unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer on the surface of the anode, sluggish conversion kinetics between S active material and polysulfide intermediates, the dissolution and shuttle Metal-sulfur batteries exhibit great potential as next-generation rechargeable batteries due to the low sulfur cost and high theoretical energy density. Sodium-sulfur (Na-S) batteries present higher feasibility of long-term development than lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries in technoeconomic and geopolitical terms. Both lithium and sodium are alkali metal elements with body-centered cubic structures, leading to similar physical and chemical properties and exposing similar issues when employed as the anode in metal-sulfur batteries. Indeed, some inspiration for mechanism researches and strategies ...

Synergistically boosting the anchoring effect and catalytic activity of MXenes as bifunctional electrocatalysts for sodium–sulfur batteries by single-atom catalyst engineering

“…The sluggish redox reaction of NaPSs prolongs their exposure time in the electrolytes and thus could also aggravate the shuttle effect. 8,68 Therefore, whether they could efficiently catalyze the conversion reactions among NaPSs is another important indicator for screening high-performance sulfur hosts. Herein, we further explored the electrocatalytic activity of TM@Ti 2 CS 2 -based sulfur hosts towards the SRR by computing the change of Gibbs free energies (ΔG) of each step during the reduction reaction from S 8 and metallic Na to final product Na 2 S (Fig.…”

“…Therefore, next-generation rechargeable Na–S batteries hold significant promise for large-scale energy storage systems. 7–9…”

“…Therefore, next-generation rechargeable Na-S batteries hold significant promise for large-scale energy storage systems. [7][8][9] Currently, the development of Na-S batteries greatly lags behind the mature Li-S batteries and is still in the preliminary stage. The study of Na-S batteries originates from the 1960s, and its operating temperature has been gradually lowered from high-temperature (300-350 °C), 10 to intermediate-temperature (120-300 °C), 11 and room-temperature (RT, 25-35 °C) 12 which is much safer and could achieve higher energy density.…”

Microarchitectures of Carbon Nanotubes for Reversible Na Plating/Stripping Toward the Development of Room‐Temperature Na–S Batteries

“…[9,10] For example, roomtemperature sodium-sulfur (RT-Na/S) batteries have gained significant attention as one of the potential contenders for post-Li-ion batteries. [11][12][13] However, inherent issues like fast capacity fade, poor Coulombic efficiency (CE), and unstable solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) limit the practical use of RT-Na/S batteries. [14,15] The hostless nature of the sodium metal anode causes volume change upon stripping/plating, leading to repeated loss of the metal anode and electrolyte inventory.…”

“…[ 9,10 ] For example, room‐temperature sodium–sulfur (RT‐Na/S) batteries have gained significant attention as one of the potential contenders for post‐Li‐ion batteries. [ 11–13 ] However, inherent issues like fast capacity fade, poor Coulombic efficiency (CE), and unstable solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) limit the practical use of RT‐Na/S batteries. [ 14,15 ]…”