Characterization of hard carbons for Na ion battery electrodes by a combination of electron microscopy and vibrational spectroscopy

The development of cost effective and sustainable stationary energy storage is a
key requirement for the full transition to renewable energy sources Sodium ion
batteries are a prime candidate for this application, as they can be constructed
from broadly available raw materials Typical cathode materials consist of
transition metals such as Fe or Ni, whereas on the anode side the most promising material from a sustainability point of view are hard carbons. Here we focus on the analysis of hard carbon anodes by applying a multi technique approach using a combination of electron microscopy and vibrational spectroscopy Whereby, vibrational spectroscopy contributes the information about the bulk material (Raman) and the surface groups (FTIR), whilst electron microscopy contributes elemental and morphological analysis.