Presentation Title: Research progress and practice of niobium in sodium ion solid-state batteries

Abstract:

Sodium-ion solid-state electrolytes are categorized into four major systems based on crystal structure: oxides, sulfides, halides, and polymer systems. Among these, halide electrolytes have emerged as a cutting-edge frontier in high-safety solid-state batteries due to their high oxidative stability, wide electrochemical window, and exceptional interfacial compatibility. Current research on halide electrolytes primarily focuses on Ta/Zr/La-based systems, while niobium -based materials exhibit significant promise in oxyhalide systems owing to their flexible valence-state modulation capability and unique lattice-activation properties. Here, we review the recent advances on Nb-based halide and oxyhalide sodium-ion solid-state electrolytes, elucidating their development history, key breakthroughs, existing challenges, and application prospects. Building upon prior research, we further designed and synthesized a novel NaNbOCl₄electrolyte with a disordered short-range structure, achieving a remarkable room-temperature ionic conductivity of 1.51 mS/cm. All-solid-state sodium batteries assembled with this electrolyte exhibited stable cycling over 250 cycles at 0.5C.

Bio:

Zhao Yufeng, Female, Professor at Shanghai University and Deputy Director of the Sustainable Energy Institute at Shanghai University. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), a recipient of the Shanghai Oriental Talents Program - Top Talents, Hebei Outstanding Youth Fund, and Hebei Hundred Outstanding Innovative Talents. She earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Tianjin University between 1996 and 2003, and her Ph.D. from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2006. She subsequently conducted research at Deakin University, Australia, and the University of Marburg, Germany, and was a visiting scholar at Northwestern University from 2014 to 2015. Her research primarily focuses on electrochemical energy materials, with a particular emphasis on key materials and devices for sodium-ion batteries and solid-state batteries. She has led over 30 research projects, including the Hebei Outstanding Youth Fund, grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Shanghai High-Level Talent Program, provincial-level key projects, and major industry collaboration projects. Her accolades include the Hebei Province Natural Science First Prize, the Chinese Society for Internal Combustion Engines Natural Science Second Prize, and the Nano Research Young Innovator Award. She has been recognized as a Stanford University Top 2% Scientist (Lifetime Impact), a Scholar GPS Top 0.05% Scientist, and a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. To date, she has published over 200 SCI-indexed papers in international journals such as Nature Communications, PNAS, Advanced Materials, and Angewandte Chemie, which have been cited more than 17,000 times, yielding an H-index of 73.