Atomic-scale regulation of anionic and cationic migration in alkali metal batteries

The regulation of anions and cations at the atomic scale is of great significance in membrane-based separation technologies. Ionic transport regulation techniques could also play a crucial role in developing high-performance alkali metal batteries such as alkali metal-sulfur and alkali metal-selenium batteries, which suffer from the non-uniform transport of alkali metal ions (e.g., Li⁺ or Na⁺) and detrimental shuttling effect of polysulfide/polyselenide anions. These drawbacks could cause unfavourable growth of alkali metal depositions at the metal electrode and irreversible consumption of cathode active materials, leading to capacity decay and short cycling life. Herein, we propose the use of a polypropylene separator coated with negatively charged Ti_0.87O₂ nanosheets with Ti atomic vacancies to tackle these issues. In particular, we demonstrate that the electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged Ti_0.87O₂ nanosheets and polysulfide/polyselenide anions reduce the shuttling effect. Moreover, the Ti_0.87O₂-coated separator regulates the migration of alkali ions ensuring a homogeneous ion flux and the Ti vacancies, acting as sub-nanometric pores, promote fast alkali-ion diffusion.