title: Superior Stable and Long Life Sodium Metal Anodes Achieved by Atomic Layer Deposition.
abstract: Na-metal batteries are considered as the promising alternative candidate for Li-ion battery beneficial from the wide availability and low cost of sodium, high theoretical specific capacity, and high energy density based on the plating/stripping processes and lowest electrochemical potential. For Na-metal batteries, the crucial problem on metallic Na is one of the biggest challenges. Mossy or dendritic growth of Na occurs in the repetitive Na stripping/plating process with an unstable solid electrolyte interphase layer of nonuniform ionic flux, which can not only lead to the low Coulombic efficiency, but also can create short circuit risks, resulting in possible burning or explosion. In this communication, the atomic layer deposition of Al2O3coating is first demonstrated for the protection of metallic Na anode for Na-metal batteries. By protecting Na foil with ultrathin Al2O3layer, the dendrites and mossy Na formation have been effectively suppressed and lifetime has been significantly improved. Furthermore, the thickness of protective layer has been further optimized with 25 cycles of Al2O3layer presenting the best performance over 500 cycles. The novel design of atomic layer deposition protected metal Na anode may bring in new opportunities to the realization of the next-generation high energy-density Na metal batteries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 3K7, Canada.
authors.forename: Lyudmila V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Goncharova
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lushington
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yadegari
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.
authors.forename: Biqiong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.
authors.forename: Ruying
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.
authors.forename: Xueliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
keywords: atomic layer deposition; metallic sodium anodes, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry; sodium metal batteries