Hexagonal Boron Nitride as Anode for Sodium Ion Battery – A Reality Check!

Abstract

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have gained enormous attention as an alternative electrochemical energy storage system. A significant challenge for their practical viability is finding an anode material that can provide high specific capacity along with good cycling stability. Recently, numerous theoretical works have proposed hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) as a promising anode material for SIBs. Nevertheless, there has been no reported experimental verification for these theoretical claims. To fill the knowledge gap, the electrochemical performance of hBN has been investigated under the capacity of a potential anode for SIBs. The effect of particle morphology on the electrochemical performance of hBN has also been investigated using bulk hBN powder and nanoplatelets hBN as active materials. Unexpectedly, hBN showcased minimal charging capacity with effectively no reversible intercalation/de-intercalation of Na-ions. The obtained results provide experimental insight into the ineffectiveness of hBN in serving as SIB anode material, unlike the previous theoretical claims. We believe it is essential to report these discrepancies in the computational and experimental findings for the benefit of experimentalists working enthusiastically to explore and develop new anode materials related to boron nitride systems.

Biotene: Earth-Abundant 2D Material as Sustainable Anode for Li/Na-Ion Battery

“…It is also superior to previously reported 2D and other oxide, hydroxide, and sulfide-based materials. 43,45,50 Further, second cycle onward the Coulombic efficiency increases to ∼100%, which was observed from GCD profiles of the second and third cycles (Figure 4b). In addition, the Biotene sample was cycled at different current densities to check cyclability (Figure 4c), which is very important for battery materials.…”

“…The lithium storage behaviors were assessed via cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments at different scan rates (0.1 to 0.75 mV s –1 ), shown in Figure a. The following equation , correlates the peak current ( i ) and scan rate (v) i = a v b log nobreak0em0.25em⁡ i = log nobreak0em0.25em⁡ a + b 0.25em log nobreak0em0.25em⁡ v where “ a” and “ b” are adjustable parameters. The b value can be calculated from the slope of plot log i vs log v , as shown in Figure b.…”

Boron Carbon Nitride-Assisted Electro-Functionalization of Screen-Printed Electrode for Tryptophan Sensing

“…As illustrated in Figure 1a, the two possible binary phase materials of B, C, and N, namely, hBN and gCN exhibit strong peaks corresponding to the (002) plane at 26.67°and 27.39°, respectively, suggesting the presence of similar honeycomb structure in all three materials. 27,28 The shift in the major diffraction peak toward a higher 2θ value manifests the decrease in the interlayer spacing of the layered structure from 3.34 Å in hBN to 3.25 Å in BCN. The decrease in interlayer spacing or lattice parameters can be explained by C having smaller atomic radii (70 pm) than B (85 pm), 29 resulting in shorter estimated bond lengths of C−N compared to B−N.…”

Hexagonal Boron Nitride Decorated Polypropylene Separator for Dendritic Free Sodium Deposition and Stripping

“…Its two-dimensional structure bestows it with a considerably high surface area, and the partial ionic bonding between boron and nitrogen imparts very high mechanical strength, superior thermal stability, conductivity, and excellent chemical stability. [17][18][19] Owing to these excellent properties, hBN has been previously investigated for separator modification in lithium based batteries. Boron nitride nanotubes have been reported for coating of polypropylene separator demonstrating elevated stability at high temperature and high current operation.…”