Sodium-ion batteries: Chemistry of biomass derived disordered carbon in carbonate and ether-based electrolytes

Lightweight and low temperature processing carbon material as an anode are of attraction in upcoming sodium battery technology. Biomass is a natural resource and converting them to hard carbons (HC) is well known for their application as anode material. It favour's the cost and performance proposition in battery technology, however, suffers many fundamental problems like irreversible loss of sodium-ions in the first cycle, long-life stabilization, and quantification of defects on the carbon and electrochemical property correlation, etc. Many such factors are notably dependent on the electrolyte used, defects in hard carbons, so in consideration of that, the focus of our research is to spotlight this by studying the electrochemistry of biomass-derived carbon anode in two different electrolyte solvent systems namely, Carbonate-based(CB) and Ether-based(EB) electrolytes. The results obtained here suggest that the EB electrolyte is more efficient compared to the CB electrolyte and that the creation of a thin and homogenous SEI layer increased reversibility and storage performance. Further, a full-cell has been fabricated using our biomass-derived carbon anode against a known [Na3V2(PO4)3 (NVP)] sodium vanadium phosphate in the role of cathode with the optimized EB as an electrolyte and electrochemical performance has also been documented.

Automated summary

The research indicates the potential application of biomass-derived carbon anodes in sodium battery technology, especially when considering the impact of electrolytes on electrochemical performance. Ether-based electrolyte shows higher efficiency compared to carbonate-based electrolyte, and the generation of a thin and homogeneous SEI layer is crucial for enhancing reversibility and storage performance.