Trigger Na+-solvent co-intercalation to achieve high-performance sodium-ion batteries at subzero temperature

Due to the sluggish interfacial kinetics, the energy density and cycle life of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) suffer severely at subzero temperatures. Herein, to accelerate the interfacial charge transfer process and improve the low-temperature SIBs performance, a strategy by triggering Na+-solvent co-intercalation is proposed. Using hydrogen titanate nanowires (HT-NW) as a model, we found that the layer structure regulation with oxygen defects could trigger HT-NW presents a unique Na+-solvent co-intercalation behavior in the ether-based electrolyte at -25 degrees C according to ex-situ FTIR and XRD. By eliminating the Na+ desolvation process, Na+-solvent co-intercalation could effectively accelerate the Na+ diffusion kinetics and reduce the activation energy to 66.0 meV. Benefit from these ameliorations, the defective HT-NW delivers a high capacity of 238 mAh g(-1) at -25 degrees C, which is equivalent to 89% of that at 25 degrees C. Besides, the defective HT-NW shows great superiority in cycle stability, maintaining capacity retention of 80.6% after 4200 cycles at 1.0 A g(-1) at -25 degrees C. Moreover, at -25 degrees C, the defective HT-NW//Na3V2(PO4)(3) full cell exhibits high energy density (119.1 Wh kg(-1)) and outstanding stability (94.5% after 1000 cycles at 1.0C). These findings reveal that the ion-solvent co-intercalation is highly feasible to improve the battery performance at low temperatures by accelerating charge transfer kinetics.

Automated summary

The strategy of triggering Na+-solvent co-intercalation can accelerate charge transfer kinetics and improve the performance of sodium-ion batteries at low temperatures. By regulating the layer structure with oxygen defects, hydrogen titanate nanowires exhibit unique behavior at -25 degrees C, delivering high capacity and cycle stability.