Publications by authors named "Russel Fernandes"
Article Synopsis
- Advanced sodium-oxygen (Na-O2) batteries are promising for large-scale energy storage because they use inexpensive materials and have better performance than lithium-oxygen batteries, but the exact transport mechanism of superoxide ions remains unclear.
- Using ESR spectroscopy, researchers identified and quantified hydroperoxyl (HO2) radicals in Na-O2 cells, providing direct evidence of these species and their role in superoxide transport that facilitates the formation of sodium superoxide (NaO2) during battery cycling.
- The study also connects superoxide levels in the electrolyte to crystal growth of NaO2, while revealing that certain radicals formed from HO2 interaction with the solvent may lead to electrolyte degradation. *
In the search for improved energy storage, rechargeable metal-oxygen batteries are very attractive owing to their reliance on molecular oxygen, which forms oxides on discharge that decompose reversibly on charge. Much focus has been directed at aprotic Li-O2 cells, but the aprotic Na-O2 system is of equal interest because of its better reversibility. We report here on the critical role and mechanism of phase-transfer catalysis in Na-O2 batteries.
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