Solid-State NMR Studies on Battery Materials

As society demand for energy continues to rise, advanced electrochemical energy storage technologies are needed to address the challenges associated with effectively using the rechargeable energy as the alternative source to fossil fuels. Various types of alkali-ion rechargeable batteries have attracted notable attentions. The specific capacity of these batteries is mainly limited by the cathode materials. Among them, Lithium ion batteries have the desirable combination of high energy density and power density, making them the most popular energy storage technique in worldwide applications, such as in cell phone, electric cars. Extensive studies have been done to improve the specific capacity by searching for high energy-density cathode materials. The capacities of LIBs are limited by cathodes. Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are an emerging electrochemical energy storage technology that has high promise for electrical grid level energy storage. High capacity, long cycle life, and low cost cathode materials are very much desired for the development of high performance SIB systems. Sodium manganese oxides with different compositions and crystal structures have attracted much attention because of their high capacity and low cost. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a powerful tool to determine the nuclear (Li, Na, O, etc) local structural environments.