Date/Time
Date(s) - 30/03/2023
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Title: Thioantimonate Electrolytes for All-solid-state Sodium Batteries – the Evolving Structure, Interface, and Electrochemical Performance

Date: Thursday, March 30, 2023

Time:1:30-2:30

Room:ABB 165

Zoom: please contact chemgrad@mcmaster.ca for Zoom details

Host:Gillian Goward

Abstract: All-solid-state sodium batteries use earth-abundant elements, non-volatile and non-flammable electrolytes, and are considered a safe and sustainable choice to satisfy the growing demand for energy storage. Using solid-state electrolytes (SEs) also eliminates the need for packing when fabricating tandem cells, potentially enabling further enhanced energy density. Developing sodium-ion conductors that exhibit high electrochemical stability is an essential step toward long-lasting and high-performance solid-state batteries. As potential electrolyte materials for all-solid-state sodium batteries, sodium thioantimonate and its substituted analogs exhibit high Na⁺ conductivity. To date, a couple of key challenges still exist for developing (electro-) chemically stable thioantimonate-based SEs. These challenges include batch-to-batch variations for producing substituted SEs, and unwanted electrochemical decompositions occurring at the SE/electrode interface.

This seminar will discuss in-depth, multidisciplinary characterizations that can correlate the structure of thioantimonate SEs with their evolving electrochemical performances during the battery cycling process. In particular, X-ray absorption, Raman, NMR, X-ray diffraction, and electron imaging characterizations are combined to provide structural- and morphological-level understanding within the SE materials and the SE/electrode interfaces. These characterizations provide insights into the optimal synthetic approach of these SE materials. The interpretation of the SE/electrode interfacial chemistry made possible by the in-situ analysis marks the criterion of an ideal functional protective layer towards high-performance, long-lasting all-solid sodium batteries.

Biography: Lingzi obtained her B.S. from Xiamen University and her Ph.D. inChemistry from the University of Arizona. Prior to joining the Department of Chemistryat the University of Alberta, Lingzi conducted her postdoc research at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Sang group is broadly interested in fundamental chemical processesat the interface of energy devices, e.g. batteries and solar cells.Perturbations such as temperature, radiation, and electrical potential duringcharacterization allow the team to correlate materials structure with devicefunctionality. Sang group develop arrange of in-situ measurement tools (in-situRaman, XANES, tomography) to answer materials chemistry questions. Standing atthe interception of analytical, materials, and interfacial chemistry, Sangrecently established the Laboratory for Advanced Characterization of Interfacesin Energy Devices (LACIE), a facility with the capacity to comprehensivelycharacterize the fundamental physicochemical nature of interfaces inelectrochemical devices. LACIE brings together research tools includingvibrational spectroscopy (Raman, IR), X-ray spectroscopy, electrochemistry,thin film fabrication, and solid-state battery fabrication.