forsyth-aninvestigationof-2020.pdf (2.23 MB)
Download fileAn investigation of commercial carbon air cathode structure in ionic liquid based sodium oxygen batteries
journal contribution
posted on 2020-01-01, 00:00 authored by The An Ha, Cristina Pozo-GonzaloCristina Pozo-Gonzalo, K Nairn, D R MacFarlane, Maria ForsythMaria Forsyth, Patrick HowlettPatrick Howlett© 2020, The Author(s). In order to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical energy density in sodium oxygen batteries challenges need to be overcome. In this work, four commercial air cathodes were selected, and the impacts of their morphologies, structure and chemistry on their performance with a pyrrolidinium-based ionic liquid electrolyte are evaluated. The highest discharge capacity was found for a cathode with a pore size ca. 6 nm; this was over 100 times greater than that delivered by a cathode with a pore size less than 2 nm. The air cathode with the highest specific surface area and the presence of a microporous layer (BC39) exhibited the highest specific capacity (0.53 mAh cm−2).