Electrolyte Engineering on Performance Enhancement of NiCo2S4 Anode for Sodium Storage

NiCo2S4 is an attractive anode for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to its high capacity and excellent redox reversibility. Practical deployment of NiCo2S4 electrode in SIBs, however, is still hindered by the inferior capacity and unsatisfactory cycling performance, which result from the mismatch between the electrolyte chemistry and electrode. Herein, a functional electrolyte containing 1.0 m NaCF3SO3 in diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (DEGDME) (1.0 m NaCF3SO3-DEGDME) is developed, which can be readily used for NiCo2S4 anode with high initial coulomb efficiency (96.2%), enhanced cycling performance, and boosted capacities (341.7 mA h g(-1) after 250 continuous cycles at the current density of 200 mA g(-1)). The electrochemical tests and related phase characterization combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculation indicate the ether-based electrolyte is more suitable for the NiCo2S4 anode in SIBs due to the formation of a stable electrode-electrolyte interface. Additionally, the importance of the voltage window is also demonstrated to further optimize the electrochemical performance of the NiCo2S4 electrode. The formation of sulfide intermediates during charging and discharging is predicted by combining DFT and verified by in situ XRD and HRTEM. The findings indicate that electrolyte engineering would be an effective way of performance enhancement for sulfides in practical SIBs.

Automated summary

Researchers developed a functional electrolyte, containing 1.0 m NaCF3SO3 in DEGDME, that enhances the performance of NiCo2S4 anode in sodium-ion batteries. The electrolyte improves the initial coulomb efficiency, cycling performance, and capacity of the NiCo2S4 electrode.