Polyacrylonitrile-Nanofiber-Based Gel Polymer Electrolyte for Novel Aqueous Sodium-Ion Battery Based on a Na4Mn9O18 Cathode and Zn Metal Anode

• Published in: Polymers Vol. 10; no. 8; p. 853
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yongguang, Bakenov, Zhumabay, Tan, Taizhe, Huang, Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 02.08.2018; MDPI AG
• Subjects: aqueous sodium-ion battery; cathode; gel polymer electrolyte; Na4Mn9O18 nanorod; polyacrylonitrile nanofiber
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym10080853

A gel polymer electrolyte was formed by trapping an optimized Na+/Zn2+ mixed-ion aqueous electrolyte in a polyacrylonitrile nanofiber polymer matrix. This electrolyte was used in a novel aqueous sodium-ion battery (ASIB) system, which was assembled by using a zinc anode and Na4Mn9O18 cathode. The nanorod-like Na4Mn9O18 was synthesized by a hydrothermal soft chemical reaction. The structural and morphological measurement confirmed that the highly crystalline Na4Mn9O18 nanorods are uniformly distributed. Electrochemical tests of Na4Mn9O18//Zn gel polymer battery demonstrated its high cycle stability along with a good rate of performance. The battery delivers an initial discharge capacity of 96 mAh g−1, and 64 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at a high cycling rate of 1 C. Our results demonstrate that the Na4Mn9O18//Zn gel polymer battery is a promising and safe high-performance battery.