Electrolytes for sodium batteries

Book chapter, 2021

This chapter presents an overview of different liquid and solid electrolytes employed for sodium batteries. It covers the basics in more depth and discusses the current status of ionic liquid (IL)-based electrolytes. The chapter outlines the challenges that remain to be solved to enable the realization of sodium batteries based on such electrolytes. Organic liquid electrolytes for sodium batteries typically consist of one or more sodium salts dissolved in one or more organic solvents. Organic ionic plastic crystals, the solid-state analogues of ILs, are emerging solid-state electrolytes that have advantageous properties, similar to ILs. ILs-based electrolytes present some unique properties that endows significant safety enhancements in comparison with conventional organic solvents, mostly related to higher decomposition temperatures. The IL-based electrolytes must also show an economic viability in comparison with conventional organic liquid electrolytes.