Nanoporous Niobium Oxide as an Anode for Na-ion Batteries
Additional Funding Sources
The project described was supported by the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program Site: Materials for Society at Boise State University under Award No. 1658076 and by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR1454984.
Presentation Date
7-2018
Abstract
Solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources tend to be intermittent, and thus large-scale energy storage is needed to fully utilize them. While sodium-ion batteries currently fall short of the energy density of the leading lithium-ion technologies, they are a potentially cost-effective alternative, since sodium is more abundant but is chemically similar to lithium. Additionally, for stationary applications cost is a much larger driving factor than for mobile applications. However, improvements are needed to increase the stability and reliability of sodium-ion batteries before they become a legitimate option. Nanostructured metal oxides such as nanotube arrays are promising for use in anodes due to their high surface area and ability to withstand the volume changes that accompany repeated Na+ insertion/extraction during battery cycling. Niobium oxide is one such material, but research into its use in sodium-ion batteries is limited. Nanoporous niobium oxide films were synthesized via anodization of niobium foil, where the morphology was modified by changing the anodization voltage and the crystallinity was modified using heat treatments. The films were characterized with SEM and XRD, then cycled in half-cells with sodium foil counter electrodes to assess their electrochemical behavior.
Nanoporous Niobium Oxide as an Anode for Na-ion Batteries
Solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources tend to be intermittent, and thus large-scale energy storage is needed to fully utilize them. While sodium-ion batteries currently fall short of the energy density of the leading lithium-ion technologies, they are a potentially cost-effective alternative, since sodium is more abundant but is chemically similar to lithium. Additionally, for stationary applications cost is a much larger driving factor than for mobile applications. However, improvements are needed to increase the stability and reliability of sodium-ion batteries before they become a legitimate option. Nanostructured metal oxides such as nanotube arrays are promising for use in anodes due to their high surface area and ability to withstand the volume changes that accompany repeated Na+ insertion/extraction during battery cycling. Niobium oxide is one such material, but research into its use in sodium-ion batteries is limited. Nanoporous niobium oxide films were synthesized via anodization of niobium foil, where the morphology was modified by changing the anodization voltage and the crystallinity was modified using heat treatments. The films were characterized with SEM and XRD, then cycled in half-cells with sodium foil counter electrodes to assess their electrochemical behavior.
Comments
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