Graphene doping a step forward for

sodium batteries
Scientists at Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have
developed an anode from graphene doped with sodium, which they say could potentially
overcome some of the fundamental issues in increasing storage capacity and the lifetime of
sodium-ion batteries.

Concerns surrounding many of the materials found in a typical lithium-ion battery

have been well documented of late, and battery suppliers, vehicle manufacturers and
other players are working with research institutes the world over to develop storage
solutions that rely on more abundant materials.

One option that has already seen limited commercial uptake in the stationary storage
segment is sodium-ion technology. Since sodium is far more abundant than lithium,
and the risk of fire is much lower with this battery chemistry, there are several
advantages. But sodium also has much lower energy density than lithium, which has
so far limited uptake, particularly in the electric vehicle and consumer electronics
segments, where the physical size of the battery is a deciding factor.

Scientists at EPFL say that their latest research could open up new pathways to
boosting the capacity of sodium-ion batteries. “Lithium is becoming a critical material
as it is used extensively in cell-phones and car batteries, while, in principle, sodium
could be a much cheaper, more abundant alternative,” says Ferenc Simon, a visiting
scientist in the group of László Forró at EPFL. “This motivated our quest for a new
battery architecture: sodium doped graphene.”

Sodium-doped graphene

One of the challenges to boosting sodium-ion battery capacity is the fact that sodium
particles do not intercalate very well into the graphite electrodes commonly used in
lithium-ion batteries. By replacing graphite with graphene (both are forms of carbon,
graphite has a crystalline structure while graphene is a single layer of atoms), they
were able to successfully dope the material with sodium.

The group used a chemical process relying on liquid ammonia as a catalyst to drive
the reaction, and were able to produce material consisting of a few layers of
graphene with high sodium content. They describe their methods in Ultralong Spin
Lifetime in Light Alkali Atom Doped Graphene, published in ACS Nano.

The material also opens up potential new pathways in the field of spintronics,
important in transistors and data storage applications. And though a very early-stage
discovery, the scientists working with EPFL are confident of its commercial potential.
“Our material can be synthesized on industrial scales and still retains its excellent
properties,” says Simon, the paper’s lead author.

The group, however, acknowledges that there is still a lot more work to be done to
develop an actual device using this technology. “But with the almost exponential
growth in demand for batteries, the study opens up very promising possibilities for
innovation,” they conclude