Microwave Synthesized NaTi₂(PO₄)₃as an Aqueous Sodium-Ion Negative Electrode

Carbon-coated NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 was successfully synthesized via a rapid microwave-assisted method and was found to have promising electrochemical function in a neutral pH Na 2 SO 4 aqueous electrolyte. The effects of various processing parameters, including precursor ball mill time, microwave irradiation parameters, and graphite precursor concentration, on the physical and electrochemical properties of the synthesized NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 . To further study electrochemical performance, a full test cell consisting of NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 /1 M Na 2 SO 4 /Na 0.44 MnO 2 was assembled. The highest discharge specific capacity obtained for this material was 85 mAh/g. These results indicate that, with an appropriate amount of graphite included in the precursor mix, microwave-synthesized NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 is a promising sodium-ion functional anode material that can be produced using an extremely appealing low-cost manufacturing process.