Review and prospects for room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries

Abstract

Due to the attraction of high specific capacity and abundant raw materials, scientists have extensively researched room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT-Na/S) batteries in recent years. However, unwanted dendrite growth, huge volume change, lower electrical conductivity and polysulfide shuttle effect make the RT-Na/S batteries performance unsatisfactory. This review focuses on the recent research results of RT-Na/S batteries in cathode material improvement, electrolyte optimization, separator modification and anode protection. The methods and innovations produced by previous researchers are also discussed, and possible solutions are proposed. It is expected that this review may spark fresh ideas for RT-Na/S batteries research.

Keywords

• Room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries
• cathode materials improvement
• electrolytes optimization
• separators modification
• anode protection