Revealing the Reaction Mechanism of Sodium Selenide Confined within a Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube: Implications for Na–Se Batteries

The sodium–selenium (Na–Se) battery is a competitive candidate as the practical next-generation energy storage device. A Na16Se8 cluster confined within a (10, 10) single-walled carbon nanotube is constructed to reveal the nanoconfinement effect on the reaction mechanism of the Na–Se battery cathode. It is found that the nanoconfinement can enhance the electronic conductivity of Nax≥12Se8 nanostructures because itinerant electrons appear under this condition. During desodiation, polyselenide chains grow longer and the intermediate products become insulators for transferring electrons. However, hole polarons have the potential to act as charge carriers in Nax≤10Se8 nanostructures. The open-circuit voltage profile is plotted, and the voltage window is 1.67 ≤ U ≤ 1 V. After the first charge cycle, the cathode cannot discharge to Na16Se8, but the reversible specific capacity can still arrive at 302 mA h/g of the cathode composite.