Recently, Lu Xing, director of the Alumni Association of Peking University in Hubei Province and deputy dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Xie Jia, director of the alumni association and professor of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, as corresponding authors, published a report entitled "Nitrofullerene as an Electrolyte-compatible Additive for High-performance Sodium" in the internationally renowned journal Nano Energy Metal Batteries article (Nitrified Fullerenes as a Highly Compatible Electrolyte Additive for High Performance Sodium Metal Batteries) article. The first authors of the article were Li Pengju and Jiang Zhipeng.
Introduction to the article
Because of its low cost, low redox potential and high theoretical specific capacity, sodium metal is expected to be used as a high energy density energy storage device. However, during the cycle of the sodium metal anode, the unstable SEI will seriously reduce the coulomb efficiency and produce dead sodium, resulting in battery failure. At the same time, uneven sodium deposition will produce dendrites, puncture the diaphragm and cause a short circuit within the battery, causing serious safety problems. Among the various negative electrode modification strategies for sodium metals that have been reported, electrolyte additives are a simple and effective strategy. However, most electrolyte additives only play a role in specific electrolytes (carbonates or ethers), which is a great challenge for large-scale applications of sodium metal batteries. Therefore, the development of additives with high electrolyte compatibility is of great significance for the application of sodium metal batteries.
Through reasonable molecular structure design, the nitrochrome (C60(NO2)6) with high solubility was synthesized as an electrolyte additive, which was applied to the negative electrode protection of sodium metal batteries. Nitrifying fullerene as an electrolyte additive not only shows excellent electrolyte compatibility, but also can effectively induce uniform deposition/peeling of sodium ions and inhibit the growth of sodium dendrites. This idea of using fullerene derivatives as electrolyte additives not only provides a feasible solution for the development of high-performance sodium metal batteries, but also effectively expands the application scope of fullerene materials.
Corresponding Author Introduction
Lu Xing is currently the vice dean, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, a recipient of the Overseas High-level Talents Program and the winner of the National Outstanding Youth Science Fund. From 2004 to 2011, he served as a COE postdoctoral fellow at Nagoya University in Japan, a COE postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tsukuba, a TARA researcher, and a researcher (professor level) at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. He has been engaged in the basic research and application development of new carbon materials for a long time, and has achieved a series of influential results in the precise construction, chemical modification, controllable assembly and functional development of metal hybrid carbon molecules. He has published more than 170 papers in internationally renowned journals, edited 5 monographs, written 5 books, been invited to write 16 reviews, served as the co-chair of international conferences (co-chairs) for many times, invited reports and invited lectures dozens of times. He was awarded the 12th Ambassador Award of the People's Republic of China to Japan and the 7th Ozawa Award of the Fullerene Society of Japan.
Xie Jia is currently a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, a national specially appointed young expert, and the chief scientist of the National Key Basic Research Program (Youth 973 Program). He received his bachelor's degree from the School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Peking University in 2002, his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry of Stanford University in 2008, returned to China in early 2012 as the dean of Hefei Guoxuan Research Institute, engaged in the research and development and industrialization of power lithium-ion batteries, and joined Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2015, and has made a number of original achievements in new electrochemical energy storage materials and devices in recent years. He has published more than 80 papers in international core journals and obtained more than 50 patents, including more than 30 invention patents. It is undertaking key projects of the Joint Fund of the State Fund Commission, surface projects, power and energy storage battery technology enterprise cooperation projects, etc.