Science Daily February 7, 2023
Recent explorations pairing a sodium anode and aluminum cathode have demonstrated reversible, energy dense Na-Al cells with excellent rate capability using the electrochemical reaction between a molten Na anode and a NaAlCl4/Al cathode. A team of researchers in the US (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, industry) investigated the fundamental aspects of the NaAlCl4-NaAl2Cl7 reaction chemistry, and Na-metal/chloroaluminate batteries with excellent reversibility and areal capacity. Increasing the voltage window of the chloroaluminate Na-Al battery higher voltage was contributed by the acidic chloroaluminate cathode reaction, unlocking an additional specific energy of ∼119 Wh kg−1 by utilizing the conversion of NaAlCl4 to NaAl2Cl7, which added to the neutral melt reaction between NaAlCl4/Al and Na. By significantly increasing the cathode thickness a discharge duration of 28.2 h was achieved. According to the researchers the metrics show the great potential of the battery for future low-cost, long-duration electrochemical energy storage…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Graphical abstract. Credit: Energy Storage Materials, Volume 56, February 2023, Pages 108-120Â Â