Profile
Keywords: Metal-ion Battery, Energy Device, Surface/Interface Chemistry, Spectroelectrochemistry
The Sang research group endeavors to develop future energy devices, such as batteries and solar cells, that can operate under extreme cold conditions—with applications for both cities and remote communities located in the Northern Canada. The group applies their expertise in surface/interface chemistry to gain deep access to the molecular level of energy devices in a controlled, air-free environment. Information acquired under this designed condition is not easily accessible, yet must be obtained to rationally optimize the performances of these devices.
This team is now in the process of establishing the Laboratory for Advanced Characterization of Interfaces in Energy Devices (LACIE) with the support of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Government of Alberta.
FES Funded Projects Outputs Show only Author
Title
Category
Date
Authors
Projects
Mechanochemical processing of W-substituted solid-state electrolytes and its effects on electrochemical performance and crystal structure T12-P01, T06-Q02 University of Alberta Activity 2022-06-16 T12-P01, T06-Q02 Degradation at the Na3SbS4/Anode Interface in an Operating All-Solid-State Sodium Battery T06-Q02 University of Alberta Publication 2022-10-01 Geng Xie, Minh Tang, Shihong Xu, Alex Brown,
Sang, L. T06-Q02 In-situ Characterization of Molecular Processes at the Anode/Na3SbS4 Electrolyte Interface in All-Solid-State Sodium Batteries T06-Q02 Activity 2022-05-30 Geng Xie
T06-Q02 Mechanochemistry in sodium thioantimonate solid electrolytes: Effects on structure, morphology, and electrochemical performance T12-P01 University of Alberta Publication 2023-08-09 Fuwei Wen, Geng Xie,
" Ning Chen
" , Qichao Wu, Madhu Sudan Chaudhary, Xiang You,
Michaelis, V. ,
Mar, A. ,
Sang, L. T12-P01 Dual-Component Interlayer Enables Uniform Lithium Deposition and Dendrite Suppression for Solid-State BatteriesArticle link copied! T06-Q02 University of Alberta Publication 2024-06-21 Xiang You,
" Ning Chen
" , Geng Xie,
" Shihong Xu
" , Sayed Youssef Sayed Nagy,
Sang, L. T06-Q02 Cellulose-Encapsulated Composite Electrolyte Design: Toward Chemically and Mechanically Enhanced Solid-Sodium Batteries T06-A06 University of Alberta Publication 2024-06-12 " Shu Dong
" , Geng Xie,
" Shihong Xu
" , XueHai Tan, Madhu Sudan Chaudhary,
" Yue Zhang
" , Runqi Wu, Fuwei Wen,
" Cagri Ayranci
" ,
Michaelis, V. ,
" Amanda Quirk
" , Scott M Rosendahl,
" Jian Liu
" , Michael D Fleischauer,
Sang, L. T06-A06 Pushing the Limit of in-Situ Characterization in All-Solid-State Battery: Full Decomposition Mechanism of Na3SbS4 Electrolyte Under Precise Potential Control With its higher ionic conductivity and lower flammability, the all-solid-state battery (ASSB) is expected to become a promising alternative to current liquid-state batteries. As the key difference between those two types of cells, electrolyte presenting in solid phase introduces additional complexity such as the formation of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) in an imperfect solid-solid interface. Compared with liquid batteries, this imperfect contact in ASSBs leads to a heterogeneous decomposition and a more complicated SEI formation mechanism. Moreover, the opaque nature in ASSBs also challenges the conventional optical spectroscopy method used to characterize their decay mechanism. Therefore, a post-cycle ex-situ characterization remains the most widely applied approach to study the decomposition in ASSB [1]. However, as the key trigger of SEI formation, the stepwise involvement of anodic or cathodic potentials in electrolyte decomposition is not well understood. Despite significant challenge in characterization method design, in-situ study remains a pivotal approach to a complete kinetic and thermodynamic story of decomposition mechanism in the ASSB.
In our previous work, in-situ Raman characterization was performed at the anode/electrolyte interface in sodium ASSB [2]. This non-destructive method with an easy set-up has shown its potential in the study of SEI formation mechanisms, but the precise control of the potential experienced by electrolyte failed due to the heterogeneity of the electrode/electrolyte contact. In this study, we optimize our previous old Raman experiment set-up and achieve precise characterization of the electrochemical window (EW) of Na3SbS4 (NAS) and its derivative, carboxymethyl cellulose coated NAS (NAS-CMC). Precise potential control was accomplished by a hybridizing electrolyte design. Our results have suggested that NAS exhibit an EW from + 1.34 V to + 2.10 V vs Na/Na+. NAS was reduced to Na-Sb binary below 1.34 V, and this process was partially reversible. Additionally, another decomposition mechanism causes NAS to irreversibly decompose into Na3SbS3, but this mechanism doesn’t have a clear critical potential. At potentials more positive than 2.10 V, NAS was oxidized to form an Sb-S complex. In contrast, NAS-CMC shows suppressed decomposition to Na-Sb binary, and the critical potential of this decomposition is lowered to 1.0 V~ 0.4 V. Up to now, many following-up experiments are being performed and more details will be shared during the meeting.
References:
1. Jia, H. H.; Peng, L. F.; Yu, C.; Dong, L.; Cheng, S. J.; Xie, J. Mater.Chem. A 2021, 9 (9), 5134−5148.
2. Xie, G.; Tang, M.; Xu, S. H.; Brown, A.; Sang, L. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022, 14, 43, 48705–48714T06-A06 University of Alberta Activity 2025-05-18 T06-A06 Sintering of W-substituted Na3SbS4 Electrolytes: Effect of Phase Composition, Voids, and Interface Contact Tungsten-substituted Na3SbS4 shows enhanced ionic conductivity but the role of sintering treatments is not well understood. The effects of sintering on Na3–xSb1–xWxS4 were examined and found to slightly increase the solubility of W, reduce voids, and possibly increase contact area. Changes in phase composition and morphology play a key role in the performance of Na3–xSb1–xWxS4 electrolytes.T06-A06 University of Alberta Publication 2025-07-25 T06-A06 Characterizations of dynamic interfaces in all-solid lithium batteries Review article accepted to the Journal of Power Sources for publication.T06-Q02 University of Alberta Publication 2021-04-30 T06-Q02 Quantitative Tracking of Organic Cathode Materials Performance Decay via Transmission IR Spectroscopy T06-Q02 Activity 2022-06-15 Nicholas Kissoon
T06-Q02 The effect of electrolyte structure, ion conductivity, and decomposition due to mechanochemical processing T12-P01, T06-Q02 University of Alberta Activity 2022-11-08 T12-P01, T06-Q02 Are selenides the same as sulfides? Structure, spectroscopy, and properties of narrow-gap rare-earth semiconductors RE2Sn(S1-xSex)5 (RE = La, Ce; x = 0-0.8) T12-P01 University of Alberta Publication 2024-05-24 T12-P01 In Situ Strain Measurement in Solid-State Li-Ion Battery Electrodes T06-Q02 University of Alberta Publication 2021-01-01 " Behrad Koohbor
" ,
Sang, L. ,
" Omer capraz
" ,
" Andrew Gewirth
" ,
" Nancy Sottos
" T06-Q02 Exploring Interfacial Chemistry in All-solid-state Metal-ion Batteries T06-Q02 University of Alberta Activity 2022-06-15 T06-Q02 Education platform for Devices to Green Energy Solutions T06-Q02 University of Alberta Activity 2022-05-10 T06-Q02 Thioantimonate Electrolytes for All-solid-state Sodium Batteries – the Evolving Structure, Interface, and Electrochemical Performance T06-Q02 University of Alberta Activity 2023-03-30 T06-Q02 A Facile Chemical Reduction Approach of Li–Sn Modified Li Anode for Dendrite Suppression T06-Q02 University of Alberta Publication 2024-06-02 Amardeep Amardeep, Douald J Freschi,
Sang, L. ,
" Jian Liu
" T06-Q02 Navigating Solvent Chemistry and Microstructures: Toward Mechanically Enhanced Ceramic-Rich Composite Electrolytes T06-A06 University of Alberta Publication 2024-10-04 Sang, L. ,
" Mauricio Ponga
" ,
" Michael Fleischauer
" , Runqi Wu
T06-A06 Noncovalent Interactions Promoted Kinetics in Perylene Diimide-Based Aqueous Zn-Ion Batteries: An Operando Attenuated Total Reflection Infrared Study T06-Q02 University of Alberta Publication 2025-04-11 T06-Q02 Spectroelectrochemical reaction cell for real-time monitoring of battery chemistry U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63/767,647T06-A06 University of Alberta IP Management 2025-03-06 T06-A06 Cellulose Encapsulated Composite Electrolyte U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63/777,146T06-A06 University of Alberta IP Management 2025-03-25 T06-A06
