Effects of Composition and Size of Active Metal Particles on Electrochemical Performance and Characteristics of Sodium Metal Chloride Rechargeable Batteries

Because of the limitation of lithium resources, sodium-based rechargeable batteries started to emerge as potential candidates for medium and large-scale stationary energy storage system (ESS) again. Na-S batteries have been used for large-scale stationary ESS but intrinsically have a risk for explosion. Sodium metal chloride batteries based on Na-NiCl₂ chemistry, however, are consisted of safer electrode configuration with nickel, NaCl and NaAlCl₄ as cathode ingredients than the Na-S batteries. The Na-NiCl₂ batteries offer many attractive properties such as high cell voltage, high theoretical specific energy, and broad range in operating temperature. The nickel chloride electrode plays an important role in the cell performance. A qualitative and quantitative understanding of the electrochemical and morphological properties of the active metals, therefore, is very important. This paper will describe effects of iron addition to cathode side as an active material and size of the active metal particles on electrochemical performance and characteristics of the sodium metal chloride batteries.