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

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°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.  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.