Spotlights on Recent JACS Publications.

作者：Hailong Chen, A. Hellemans, Christie L. C. Ellis · 发表于：Journal of the American Chemical Society · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1021/jacs.9b04067 · 研究领域：Medicine

Lithium-based rechargeable batteries power our phones and computers, but they have drawbacks: lithium is a relatively rare element and it is toxic. Sodium is much more common and has a low toxicity, which makes it a desirable alternative. One promising type of cathode consists layers of sodium and transition metals, which in theory would allow a large capacity and good cycling stability. But experiments show that during charging the movement of the sodium ions causes a phase transition to occur in the material, which degrades the cathode. Hailong Chen and co-workers have combined lithium, sodium, and the right mix of transition metals to make a cathode that will not degrade even at relatively high voltages (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b01855). The result is a sodium battery cathode that can undergo deep cycling with excellent capacity retention. Past research on cathodes with both sodium and lithium had struggled with a loss of lithium that occurred at high charging potentials, limiting the voltage range over which the cathode could be charged and discharged. Chen and co-workers overcome all these competing challenges with a cathode material made of Na0.66Li0.18Fe0.12Mn0.7O2, which avoids the loss of lithium and the undesired phase transition to achieve high capacity and long life. Alexander Hellemans