Growth and dissolution of NaO2 in an ether-based electrolyte as the discharge product in the Na-O2 cell

Iain M Aldous; Laurence J Hardwick

doi:10.1039/c7cc08201k

Growth and dissolution of NaO₂ in an ether-based electrolyte as the discharge product in the Na-O₂ cell

Chem Commun (Camb). 2018 Apr 11;54(28):3444-3447. doi: 10.1039/c7cc08201k. Epub 2018 Mar 16.

Authors

Iain M Aldous¹, Laurence J Hardwick

Affiliation

¹ Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy, Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, UK. hardwick@liverpool.ac.uk.

PMID: 29547214
DOI: 10.1039/c7cc08201k

Abstract

The deposition and dissolution of sodium superoxide (NaO₂) was investigated by atomic force microscopy. Rectangular prisms consisting of 8 smaller sub-structures grew from NaO₂ platelets, when discharged in 0.5 M NaClO₄, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite. During oxidation the 8 sub-structures are conserved. Ring-like structures of Na₂CO₃ of 200 nm diameter remain at the end of oxidation.