Researchers used Leidenfrost effect to devise sodium-ion batteries cathodes to ensure it remains stable for 10,000 charge-discharge cycles.
A collaboration of researchers working across research institutes in India, Australia, and the UK has used a 270-year-old physics trick to build an atomic highway inside the cathode of a sodium-ion battery.
The approach can help unlock large-scale energy-storage infrastructure using inexpensive, abundantly available sodium. The transition to a clean, green economy rests on the use of lithium-ion batteries to store renewable energy captured by solar and wind energy plants. These batteries are also important for storing energy in devices ranging from smartphones to electric vehicles . However, lithium extraction is tricky and not environmentally friendly, making its large-scale use financially and environmentally expensive. On the other hand, using abundantly available options like sodium to build batteries can help reduce costs and is also better for the environment in the long run. But sodium ions are large and can clog the cathode, wearing it out. To avoid this, scientists have been seeking a suitable cathode material. Building an atomic highwayResearchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal and the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar collaborated with colleagues at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia and Swansea University in the UK to develop a cathode that enables rapid, repeated sodium-ion movement without damaging its structure. “We decided to build the right cathode infrastructure, an atomic highway, so that sodium ions could zip through! ” explained Subhajit Singha, a PhD scholar at IISER Bhopal who was involved in the work. Using Na₄Fe₃₂, an iron-based phosphate-pyrophosphate mixture, the researchers built the cathode that naturally forms a stable three-dimensional tunnel-like structure to facilitate the flow of sodium ions. Using the Leidenfrost effectHowever, the researchers knew that using pure-iron-based materials for the cathode causes issues of conductivity and energy carriage. To overcome this, the researchers added indium to the mixture. Leidenfrost-assisted synthesis of a low-cost and scalable cathode material for sodium-ion batteries. Credit: Clean Energy Research Group at IISER Bhopal, India.Replacing just one percent of iron atoms with indium enabled the researchers to increase the atomic spacing of the cathode material. This allowed sodium ions to flow more easily, thereby improving the cathode’s conductivity. But simply improving the cathode material recipe was not enough. The researchers also needed to improve their manufacturing process of the material. So, they tapped into the Leidenfrost effect. 270 years ago, German physician Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost observed that water droplets skate on the surface of superheated metal as if there were no friction. This happened because the water vapor created a cushion on the surface far above the boiling point, allowing water to glide. This phenomenon allows stainless steel pans to become non-stick at high temperatures. But the researchers used this effect to spray the cathode material onto a metal surface, triggering the Leidenfrost effect and flash-evaporating it. The result was fused porous particles that were baked into a powder that works like sponge grains, soaking up electrolyte fluid for smoother transfer of sodium ions. This helped the researchers avoid furnaces, making the manufacturing process more environmentally friendly while also ensuring that the cathode’s crystal structure remains intact over thousands of cycles. In comparison, standard lithium-ion batteries last a few hundred cycles. “The optimized cathode material demonstrated a high energy density of ~359 Wh kg-1, and remarkable durability with stable performance over 10,000 charge-discharge cycles,” said Raghavan Ranganathan, associate professor at IITGN, in a press release. The research findings were published in the journal Small.
Cathode Energy &Amp Environment Leidenfrost Effect Lithium Ion Batteries Sodium Ion Batteries Sustainability
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