Metal-ion Battery

 Lithium-ion batteries are considered as the modern technology for energy storage and conversion. However, the shortage of lithium source and production cost made a demand to an alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Nowadays, sodium-ion batteries and potassium-ion batteries are evolving as promising next-generation energy storage systems for large scale applications, owing to the natural abundance and low cost. But, sodium-ion batteries and potassium-ion batteries have lower energy density compared with lithium-ion batteries because of the relatively heavier and larger (Na or K) atom size. Indeed, the working principle of metal-ion batteries is similar to conventional lithium-ion batteries so there are several unexplored opportunities in metal-ion batteries. 

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 The great challenges have been involved to identify appropriate cathode and anode materials for real time applications. Generally, anode materials are classified according to their working mechanism such as intercalation/de-intercalation, conversion and alloying/de-alloying. Additionally, cathode materials are categorized on their structural properties like layered, spinel and olivine. In our lab, we have been working on anode and cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries and potassium-ion batteries by implementing of simple strategy such as surface coating, nanostructuring, heteroatom doping and hybrid-composite to enhance the electrochemical performance of the batteries.

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Selected Publications

1. Kumaresan, L. et al. Sustainable-inspired design of efficient organic electrodes for rechargeable sodium-ion batteries: Conversion of P-waste into E-wealth device. Sustain. Mater. Technol. 28, e00247 (2021).

2. Senthil, C., Park, J. W., Shaji, N., Sim, G. S. & Lee, W. Biomass seaweed-derived nitrogen self-doped porous carbon anodes for sodium-ion batteries: Insights into the structure and electrochemical activity. J. Energy Chem. (2021).

3. Shaji, N. et al. Tin selenide/N-doped carbon composite as a conversion and alloying type anode for sodium-ion batteries. J. Alloys Compd. 834, 154304 (2020).

4. Santhoshkumar, P. et al. Multichannel red phosphorus with a nanoporous architecture: A novel anode material for sodium-ion batteries. J. Power Sources 470, 228459 (2020).

5. Senthil, C., Amutha, S., Gnanamuthu, R., Vediappan, K. & Lee, C. W. Metallic 1T MoS2 overlapped nitrogen-doped carbon superstructures for enhanced sodium-ion storage. Appl. Surf. Sci. 491, 180–186 (2019).