Formation and cycling data for Na-ion batteries from high-throughput synthesis, coating, and assembly

<p>Formation and cycling data from a combinatorial/high-throughput upscaling process for the production and characterization of sodium-ion batteries. The process involves batch synthesis, screen printing of electrodes, robotic cell assembly, and battery cycling. The goal of this study was to test how fast a new chemistry (to the group) could be introduced into the workflow and if we are able to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and reproducibility. The cathode material, Na0.9[Cu0.22Fe0.30Mn0.48]O2, was synthesized through a solid-state reaction (Na2CO3 (purity 99.5 %), CuO (purity 99.7 %), Fe2O3 (purity 99.9 %) and Mn2O3 (purity 98 %) at 850&deg;C for 15h) in a pressed pellet (10 MPa) that was ground up again to make a slurry. The electrodes were prepared using screen printing, which offers simplicity, low cost, and quick coating of large areas in a reproducible manner. The binder was sodium carboxymethyl cellulose to make the electrodes water processable in air.&nbsp; The assembled batteries utilized the synthesized cathode material and hard carbon as the anode, with a glass fiber separator and a 1M NaPF6 EC:EMC 3:7 with 2 wt% FEC electrolyte.</p>