Operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a Na-O2 battery using liquid-electrochemical Transmission Electron Microscopy
Despite the fact that in sodium-oxygen (Na-O2) batteries show promise as high-energy storage systems, this technology is still the subject of intense fundamental research, owing to the complex reaction by which it operates. To understand the formation mechanism of the discharge product, sodium super...
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| Format: | Article |
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American Chemical Society
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50715/ |
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| author | Lutz, Lukas Dachraoui, Walid Demortière, Arnaud Johnson, Lee R. Bruce, Peter G. Grimaud, Alexis Tarascon, Jean-Marie |
| author_facet | Lutz, Lukas Dachraoui, Walid Demortière, Arnaud Johnson, Lee R. Bruce, Peter G. Grimaud, Alexis Tarascon, Jean-Marie |
| author_sort | Lutz, Lukas |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Despite the fact that in sodium-oxygen (Na-O2) batteries show promise as high-energy storage systems, this technology is still the subject of intense fundamental research, owing to the complex reaction by which it operates. To understand the formation mechanism of the discharge product, sodium superoxide (NaO2), advanced experimental tools must be developed. Here we present for the first time the use of a Na-O2 micro-battery using a liquid aprotic electrolyte coupled with fast imaging transmission electron microscopy to visualize, in real time, the mechanism of NaO2 nucleation/growth. We observe that the formation of NaO2 cubes during reduction occurs by a solution-mediated nucleation process. Furthermore, we unambiguously demonstrate that the subsequent oxidation of NaO2, of which little is known, also proceeds via a solution mechanism. We also provide insight into the cell electrochemistry via the visualization of an outer shell of parasitic reaction product, formed through chemical reaction at the interface between the growing NaO2 cubes and the electrolyte, and suggest that this process is responsible for the poor cyclability of Na-O2 batteries. The assessment of the discharge- charge mechanistic in Na-O2 batteries through operando electrochemical TEM visualization should facilitate the development of this battery technology. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:17:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-50715 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:17:56Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Chemical Society |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-507152020-05-04T19:27:53Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50715/ Operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a Na-O2 battery using liquid-electrochemical Transmission Electron Microscopy Lutz, Lukas Dachraoui, Walid Demortière, Arnaud Johnson, Lee R. Bruce, Peter G. Grimaud, Alexis Tarascon, Jean-Marie Despite the fact that in sodium-oxygen (Na-O2) batteries show promise as high-energy storage systems, this technology is still the subject of intense fundamental research, owing to the complex reaction by which it operates. To understand the formation mechanism of the discharge product, sodium superoxide (NaO2), advanced experimental tools must be developed. Here we present for the first time the use of a Na-O2 micro-battery using a liquid aprotic electrolyte coupled with fast imaging transmission electron microscopy to visualize, in real time, the mechanism of NaO2 nucleation/growth. We observe that the formation of NaO2 cubes during reduction occurs by a solution-mediated nucleation process. Furthermore, we unambiguously demonstrate that the subsequent oxidation of NaO2, of which little is known, also proceeds via a solution mechanism. We also provide insight into the cell electrochemistry via the visualization of an outer shell of parasitic reaction product, formed through chemical reaction at the interface between the growing NaO2 cubes and the electrolyte, and suggest that this process is responsible for the poor cyclability of Na-O2 batteries. The assessment of the discharge- charge mechanistic in Na-O2 batteries through operando electrochemical TEM visualization should facilitate the development of this battery technology. American Chemical Society 2018-01-22 Article PeerReviewed Lutz, Lukas, Dachraoui, Walid, Demortière, Arnaud, Johnson, Lee R., Bruce, Peter G., Grimaud, Alexis and Tarascon, Jean-Marie (2018) Operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a Na-O2 battery using liquid-electrochemical Transmission Electron Microscopy. Nano Letters, 18 (2). pp. 1280-1289. ISSN 1530-6992 Na-O2 battery; Solution-mediated mechanism; Discharge and charge processes; Operando TEM; Parasitic product formation https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b04937 doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b04937 doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b04937 |
| spellingShingle | Na-O2 battery; Solution-mediated mechanism; Discharge and charge processes; Operando TEM; Parasitic product formation Lutz, Lukas Dachraoui, Walid Demortière, Arnaud Johnson, Lee R. Bruce, Peter G. Grimaud, Alexis Tarascon, Jean-Marie Operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a Na-O2 battery using liquid-electrochemical Transmission Electron Microscopy |
| title | Operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a Na-O2 battery using liquid-electrochemical Transmission Electron Microscopy |
| title_full | Operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a Na-O2 battery using liquid-electrochemical Transmission Electron Microscopy |
| title_fullStr | Operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a Na-O2 battery using liquid-electrochemical Transmission Electron Microscopy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a Na-O2 battery using liquid-electrochemical Transmission Electron Microscopy |
| title_short | Operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a Na-O2 battery using liquid-electrochemical Transmission Electron Microscopy |
| title_sort | operando monitoring of the solution-mediated discharge and charge processes in a na-o2 battery using liquid-electrochemical transmission electron microscopy |
| topic | Na-O2 battery; Solution-mediated mechanism; Discharge and charge processes; Operando TEM; Parasitic product formation |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50715/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50715/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50715/ |