A Safer Sodium-Ion Battery Based on Nonflammable Organic Phosphate Electrolyte

Sodium-ion batteries are now considered as a low-cost alternative to lithium-ion technologies for large-scale energy storage applications; however, their safety is still a matter of great concern for practical applications. In this paper, a safer sodium-ion battery is proposed by introducing a nonflammable phosphate electrolyte (trimethyl phosphate, TMP) coupled with NaNi0.35Mn0.35Fe0.3O2 cathode and Sb-based alloy anode. The physical and electrochemical compatibilities of the TMP electrolyte are investigated by igniting, ionic conductivity, cyclic voltammetry, and charge-discharge measurements. The results exhibit that the TMP electrolyte with FEC additive is completely nonflammable and has wide electrochemical window (0-4.5 V vs. Na/Na+), in which both the Sb-based anode and NaNi0.35Mn0.35Fe0.3O2 cathode show high reversible capacity and cycling stability, similarly as in carbonate electrolyte. Based on these results, a nonflammable sodium-ion battery is constructed by use of Sb anode, NaNi0.35Mn0.35Fe0.3O2 cathode, and TMP + 10 vol% FEC electrolyte, which works very well with considerable capacity and cyclability, demonstrating a promising prospect to build safer sodium-ion batteries for large-scale energy storage applications.