Brookhaven National Laboratory The United States Department of Energy's used a full-field transmission x-ray microscope to understand how and why the performance of sodium-ion batteries declines as a result of charge and discharge cycles. The imaging found that fractures occur in the battery after the first cycle, because the iron sulfide particles expand upon sodiation during discharge and are unable to return to their original condition. Now they know why the structural issues occur, the team aims to improve energy density and battery capacity after the first cycle, which could lead to batteries that last longer and deliver more energy.
The United States Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory used a full-field transmission x-ray microscope to understand how and why the performance of sodium-ion batteries declines as a result of charge and discharge cycles. The imaging found that fractures occur in the battery after the first cycle, because the iron sulfide particles expand upon sodiation during discharge and are unable to return to their original condition. Now they know why the structural issues occur, the team aims to improve energy density and battery capacity after the first cycle, which could lead to batteries that last longer and deliver more energy.