Revealing the Sodium Storage Mechanisms in Hard Carbon Pores

Abstract Hard carbon (HC) is the most promising anode for the commercialization of sodium‐ion batteries (NIBs); however, a general mechanism for sodium storage in HC remains unclear, obstructing the development of highly efficient anodes for NIBs. To elucidate the mechanism of sodium storage in the pores, operando synchrotron small‐angle X‐ray scattering, wide‐angle X‐ray scattering, X‐ray absorption near edge structure, Raman spectroscopy, and galvanostatic measurements are combined. The multimodal approach provides mechanistic insights into the sodium pore‐filling process for different HC microstructures including the pore sizes that are preferentially filled, the extent to which different pore sizes are…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: CBET‐1338154, SCR_019307, 1338154, DE-AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02-06CH11357
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Awards: -AC02-05CH11231, SCR_019307, AC02-06CH11357, 05CH11231, AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02, 06CH11357, DE-AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02-06CH11357, DE-AC02-
• D
  DuPont

  Award: DE-AC02-06CH11357
• NU
  Northwestern University

  Award: DE-AC02-06CH11357
• OO
  Office of Science

  Awards: DE-AC02-06CH11357, AC02-05CH11231, -AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02, 06CH11357, DE‐AC02‐06CH11357, AC02-06CH11357
• UO
  University of Colorado Boulder

  Awards: DE-AC02-06CH11357, SCR_019307
• CO
  College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Wyoming
• DO
  Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems

  Award: 1338154
• AN
  Argonne National Laboratory

  Awards: DE-AC02, DE-AC02-05CH11231, 06CH11357, AC02-06CH11357