Bismuth Islands for Low-Temperature Sodium-Beta Alumina Batteries

Journal Article · Mon Dec 24 00:00:00 EST 2018 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b13954· OSTI ID:1501831

Jin, Dana ^[1]; Choi, Sangjin ^[1]; Jang, Woosun  ^[1]; Soon, Aloysius  ^[1]; Kim, Jeongmin ^[1]; Moon, Hongjae ^[1]; Lee, Wooyoung  ^[1]; Lee, Younki ^[2]; Son, Sori ^[3]; Park, Yoon-Cheol ^[3]; Chang, HeeJung ^[4]; Li, Guosheng  ^[4]; Jung, Keeyoung ^[3]; Shim, Wooyoung  ^[1]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea
2. Department of Materials Engineering and Convergence Technology &, RIGET, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Korea
3. Materials Research Division, Research Institute of Industrial Science &, Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea
4. Electrochemical Materials and System Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, United States

Wetting liquid metal on the solid electrolyte of a liquid-metal battery determines the battery’s operating temperature and performance. Liquid sodium electrodes are particularly attractive because of their low cost, natural abundance, and geological distribution, but wet poorly on a solid electrolyte near its metaling temperature, limiting their widespread suitability for low-temperature batteries used for large-scale energy storage systems. Herein we develop an isolated metal island strategy that can improve sodium wetting in sodium-beta alumina batteries that allows operation at lower temperatures. Our results suggest that in situ heat treatment of a solid electrolyte followed by bismuth deposition effectively eliminates oxygen and moisture from the surface of the solid electrolyte, preventing the formation of an oxide layer on liquid sodium, leading to enhanced wetting. We also show that employing isolated bismuth islands significantly improves cell performance, retaining 94% charge after the initial cycle, an improvement over cells without bismuth islands. These results suggest that coating isolated metal islands is a promising but simple strategy for the development of low-temperature sodium-beta alumina batteries.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1501831
• Report Number(s): PNNL-ACT-SA-10332
• Journal Information: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol. 11, Issue 3; ISSN 1944-8244
• Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English