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

Carbon-coated NaTi2(PO4)3 was successfully synthesized via a rapid microwave-assisted method and was found to have promising electrochemical function in a neutral pH Na2SO4 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 NaTi2(PO4)3. To further study electrochemical performance, a full test cell consisting of NaTi2(PO4)3/1 M Na2SO4/Na0.44MnO2 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 NaTi2(PO4)3 is a promising sodium-ion functional anode material that can be produced using an extremely appealing low-cost manufacturing process.