Recent trends on tailoring cathodes for room-temperature Na-S batteries

• Main Authors: Deepak Kumar, D.K. Kanchan, Shravn Kumar, Kuldeep Mishra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2019-04-01
• Series: Materials Science for Energy Technologies
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589299118301344

The research on room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries is gathering significant attention over the past ten years. This battery technology is a competitive candidate for upcoming grid scale stationary storage units where cost gains precedence over the energy density in market feasibility for applications. Despite the high theoretical capacity of the sodium-sulfur battery, its acceptance is obstructed by serious challenges. The key challenge includes its accelerated shuttle effect and little sulfur electroactivity, which lead to inferior accessible discharge capacity and faster decay.This paper summarizes major benefits, challenges, and operating principle of Na-S battery technology at room-temperature. The conventional and recent strategies for performance improvements of these batteries by tailoring sulfur cathode have been discussed. The broad guidelines for future advancement of these batteries are also summarized and critically explained. Understanding the cell chemistry using in-situ characterization techniques and optimization of each compartment i.e. cathode/anode/electrolyte of room temperature sodium-sulfur batteries, are essential for their further advancement as a feasible technology for energy storage. Keywords: Composite sulfur electrode, Sodium-sulfur battery, Polysulfide shuttle, Energy storage