Executive Summary : | The excessive reliance on lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is leading to exhausting lithium reserves, political monopolies, and price instability. To diversify our dependence, significant effort is required to develop alternatives using earth-abundant elements like sodium, manganese, and iron. Scaling up research is crucial as capital cost can only be minimized by scaling up sodium ion battery (SIB) technology. SIB cells consist of set of electrodes separated by an ionically conducting electrolyte membrane or separator. The cathode is expensive and comprises nearly 35% of the cost incurred for required materials. Several material systems, such as layered, polyanionic, and spinel, have shown potential for use as cathodes. Layered cathodes in various structures like P2, O3, and ?/? are easy to synthesize and scale up. The best composite will be tested for full cell performance in coin cells and scaled up to make pouch cells of 500mA to 1 Ah cells.
The study plans to explore the possibility of cathode composites by combining cathodes with different polymorphs/systems, such as layered-layered, layered-polyionic, and layered-prussian blue systems. This study will unveil the synthesis/interface/electronic compatibility of different systems of cathodes and enable the drawing of engineering parameters for combining the right composite systems. This proposal identifies composite electrodes that are simple to synthesis, easily scalable, and benefit in fabricating full cells of SIBs. |