Experimental Insights into the Limiting Mechanism of Vacancy Transport in Sodium Metal Anodes for Solid State Batteries

Abstract

Ceramic solid-state batteries with sodium (Na) metal electrodes promise enhanced safety and energy density compared to contemporary secondary batteries. However, the critical delamination of the Na metal electrode during discharge - when vacancies accumulate at the Na/ceramic interface - remains to be understood and avoided. The study investigates the underlying mechanism by applying a linear current ramp between two Na metal electrodes separated by a ceramic solid electrolyte to provoke vacancy buildup. Above a critical current density $j_\mathrm{crit}$ the anode voltage no longer increases linearly but in an exponential fashion. Arrhenius analysis of $j_\mathrm{crit}(T)$ for the three solid electrolytes $\mathrm{Na_{1.9}Al_{10.67}Li_{0.33}O_{17}}$, $\mathrm{Na_{3.4}Zr_2Si_{2.4}P_{0.6}O_{12}}$, and $\mathrm{Na_5SmSi_4O_{12}}$ yields an activation energy $E_\mathrm{A}$ of $0.13$ to $0.15\,\mathrm{eV}$. This exceeds the activation energy of $0.053\,\mathrm{eV}$ for the diffusive vacancy migration in bulk Na significantly. Further, $E_\mathrm{A}$ is insensitive to anode microstructure variation. Both observations rule out bulk diffusion as the transport bottleneck. A thin tin-sodium alloy interlayer lowers $E_\mathrm{A}$ to $(0.10\pm0.01)\,\mathrm{eV}$, implicating interfacial thermodynamics as rate-limiting. Sodiophilic, Na-conducting interlayers and low-tension interfaces emerge as key pathways to stable, high-rate Na-SSBs at practical stack pressures.