A compatible anode/succinonitrile-based electrolyte interface in all-solid-state Na–CO2 batteries

Abstract

All-solid-state sodium batteries have great potential for large-scale energy storage applications. However, constructing a compatible Na anode/solid-state electrolyte (SSE) interface is still challenging because most SSEs are unstable toward Na metal. A succinonitrile (SN) SSE shows high room-temperature ionic conductivity (10⁻³ S cm⁻¹) but easily deteriorates if in contact with Na metal, leading to continuously increased interfacial resistance. Here we present an extremely simple approach to introduce a compact NaF-rich interphase on a Na surface via chemical reactions between fluoroethylene carbonate–Na⁺ and Na metal, resulting in a compatible Na anode/SN-based electrolyte interface. The in situ formed NaF-rich interphase can not only prevent side reactions between the SN-based electrolyte and Na anode but also regulate the uniform deposition of dendrite-free Na. As a result, the symmetric cells show a low overpotential of 150 mV after cycling for 4000 h. Furthermore, all-solid-state Na–CO₂ batteries (4Na + 3CO₂ ↔ 2Na₂CO₃ + C) with the compatible interface can run for 50 cycles with a small overpotential increase of 0.33 V. This work provides a promising method to build a stable interface that enables the use of an SSE which is unstable toward Na in Na metal batteries.