Materials Design for Solid State Sodium-Ion Batteries

Solid state sodium-ion batteries with nonflammable inorganic electrolytes are promising for large-scale energy storage applications. The current battery performance is hindered by problems related to the electrolyte materials, e.g., severe dendrite propagation and interface reaction of conventional Na₃PS₄ anolyte, and low Na⁺ conductivity of halide catholyte. Here we propose a newly designed electrolyte with high conductivity, superior formability under cold-press process and improved electrochemical stability toward the anode. The battery with NaCrO₂ cathode demonstrates a long cycling life at high rate. We demonstrate that this material platform is also applicable to many other cathodes with higher charge voltage.