Enhanced NaFe0.5Mn0.5O2/C Nanocomposite as a Cathode for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have emerged as an alternative candidate in the field of energy storage applications. To achieve the commercial success of SIBs, the designing of active materials is highly important. O3-type layered-NaFe0.5Mn0.5O2 (NFM) materials provide higher specific capacity along with Earth-abundance and low cost. Nevertheless, the material possesses some disadvantages, such as a low rate capability and severe capacity fading during cycling. To overcome such drawbacks, composite O3-type layered NFM with carbon has been prepared for the cathode electrode of SIBs through a facile solution combustion method followed by calcination process. The introduction of carbon sources into NFM material provides excellent electrochemical performances; moreover, the practical limitations of NFM material such as low electrical conductivity, structural degradation, and cycle life are effectively controlled by introducing carbon sources into the host material. The NFM/C-2 material delivers the specific charge capacities of 171, 178, and 166 mA h g−1; and specific discharge capacities of 188, 169, and 162 mA h g−1, in the first 3 cycles, respectively.

Practical Cathodes for Sodium‐Ion Batteries: Who Will Take The Crown?

“…[136] Carbon-coated Fe/Mn-based cathode materials can be achieved using solid-state-assisted processes or secondary high-temperature carbonization steps (Ar atmosphere). [235,242] However, due to unstable coatings or introduced O-vacancies, the resulting cathode materials exhibit unsatisfactory electrochemical performance. Therefore, from the perspective of production costs and Na-ion storage performance, the C-coating strategy does not seem to be fully suitable for modifying layered oxide materials.…”

“…[272] Similarly, a solution combustion synthesis technique was proposed to prepare chemically uniform cathode materials. [242] Specifically, nitrate and glycine were used as the oxidant and fuel, respectively, to obtain micron-sized secondary particles composed of hexagonal plate-like primary nanoscale particles by auto-ignition at 400 °C (Figure 13b). [273] However, the electrochemical performance of the resulting cathode was not satisfactory, which may be due to its loose stacking.…”

Unleashing the Potential of Sodium‐Ion Batteries: Current State and Future Directions for Sustainable Energy Storage

“…The electrochemistry of the capacity‐fading issue can still be improved to a more considerable extent by using composite NaFe 0.5 Mn 0.5 O 2 (NFM)/C. [ 39 ] The composite cathode was synthesized via a single‐step solid‐state reaction, followed by pyrolysis using different weight percentages of carbon precursors (2‐methylamidazole). Cathode with 3 wt% of carbon designated as NFM/C gave the optimum performance, with an initial charge/discharge capacity of 171/188 mAh g −1 at 0.05 C rate cycled within the range (1.5–4.3) V. This cathode demonstrated appreciable capacity, even at the end of 100 cycles (75 mAh g −1 ) at 0.5 C rate, which is much better performance than its NFM counterpart, whose capacity severely faded at the end of 40 cycles (24 mAh g −1 ).…”

Moving toward Smart Hybrid Vertical Carbon/MoS2 Binder-Free Electrodes for High-Performing Sodium-Ion Batteries

“…To date, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) dominate the market of energy storage systems, from portable electronics to electric vehicles (EVs). − However, the rising concern over the increasing demand for LIBs, scarcity of lithium resources, high cost of materials, and safety issues accelerates the development of alternative rechargeable batteries . Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are believed to be attractive substitutes for LIBs due to the availability, low cost, similarity in the physicochemical properties, and resemblance in the working principle . Compared to LIBs, SIBs are known for sluggish ion diffusion kinetics due to the larger ionic size resulting in a poor capacity and cycling performance.…”

“…4 Sodiumion batteries (SIBs) are believed to be attractive substitutes for LIBs due to the availability, low cost, similarity in the physicochemical properties, and resemblance in the working principle. 5 Compared to LIBs, SIBs are known for sluggish ion diffusion kinetics due to the larger ionic size resulting in a poor capacity and cycling performance. Thus, the major concern in SIB research is to design and develop suitable host electrode active materials to accelerate the ion diffusion kinetics to obtain reasonable electrochemical performances for SIBs.…”