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Published on: December 20, 2016
Improving Electrolyte Sustainability for Sodium-Ion Capacitors by Combining a Bio-Based Solvent With a Low-Fluorine
Andrea Hainthaler1, Manuel J Pinzón2, Maria Arnaiz2
1Institute of Technical and Environmental Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Center for Energy and Environmental Chemistry (CEEC) Jena, Jena, Germany.
Abstract:
This work focuses on improving the sustainability of electrolytes for sodium-ion capacitors (SICs). Through the combination of a low-fluorinated salt, namely sodium difluoro(oxalato)borate (NaDFOB), and the bio-based solvent γ-Valerolactone (GVL), a new electrolyte formulation (1 mol L-1 NaDFOB in GVL) is being studied for application in SICs. Remarkably, the performance of the SIC full-cells is very comparable to the most commonly used formulation of sodium hexafluorophosphate in ethylene carbonate:propylene carbonate (1 mol L-1 NaPF6 in EC:PC). Furthermore, presodiation strategies were compared for the novel electrolyte system. The in situ oxidation of a sacrificial salt (sodium squarate, Na2C4O4) incorporated into the positive electrode yielded comparable results to the ex situ electrochemical approach. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies revealed that depending on the presodiation strategy, the solid-electrolyte-interphase composition varies significantly.
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