Research Projects

Lithium-ion batteries (LiB) are promising energy storage devices with high energy density and long cycle life, but their growth and widespread adoption in India are hindered by material scarcity and high cost. On the other hand, sodium-ion batteries (NiB) have gained attention due to their abundant resources at a much cheaper cost. This could eliminate the geopolitical supply crisis associated with current LiB technology. Hard carbon-based hierarchical electrodes and carbon-metal oxide composites can be tested as anodes in NiB batteries, offering advantages such as high surface area electrodes, shorter ion diffusion path lengths, high specific capacities, and better storage kinetics. The fabrication of binder-free hierarchical electrodes eliminates the use of harmful organic solvents. The proposed electrode design may significantly improve the storage capabilities of anodes in NiB. The objectives of this project include optimizing fabrication parameters, synthesizing hard carbons and hard carbon-metals oxide composites for hybrid anode electrodes, characterizing materials using various analytical techniques, evaluating electrochemical characteristics, and demonstrating coin cell prototypes. This project is significant in the Indian research field, as it is expected to produce new dimensions of using 3D high surface area electrodes and carbon-metal oxide composite electrodes for NiB. Based on resource availability and cost, NiB is preferred for testing these 3D hierarchical electrode and carbon metal composite anode systems.