Thermal runaway-free Ah-level Na-ion battery

Thermal runaway-free Ah-level Na-ion battery | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Thermal runaway-free Ah-level Na-ion battery Yong-Sheng Hu, Jiao Zhang, Lin Zhou, Haibo Wang, Suting Weng, and 11 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6725956/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 06 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Energy → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Safety is a fundamental criterion for determining rechargeable batteries in energy storage applications1,2. Despite the great efforts in non-flammable electrolytes, they still cannot achieve intrinsic safety so far in Ah-level batteries without thermal runaway3-10, and the relationship between the flame-retardancy of electrolytes and the safety performance of batteries is still unclear. Here, we propose a polymerizable and non-flammable electrolyte (PolyNonflyte or PNE). In addition to the inherent non-flammability, this formulation also leverages the synergistic anion-cation solvation effect and undergoes thermally triggered polymerization, facilitating the optimized electrode-electrolyte interfacial chemistry and a cross-linked barrier that prevents mechanical/chemical interactions between the electrodes with impeded side reactions and reductive gases generation. These features promise PNE to eliminate thermal runaway in Ah-level cylindrical cells even when the temperature rises to 300°C in accelerating rate calorimeter and thermal abuse tests. The nail penetration tests were also passed without fire, smoke, or explosion. Furthermore, batteries with this electrolyte exhibit exceptional temperature adaptability between -40°C and 60°C and a high energy density of 211 Wh/kg at 4.3 V. This work brings a new insight of the battery safety beyond non-flammable electrolyte design and paves the way towards safer and more efficient battery systems for energy storage technology. Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy storage/Batteries Physical sciences/Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Batteries Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supportinginformation.pdf Supporting information of thermal runaway-free Ah-level Na-ion battery VideoS1.mp4 Ignition experiment video of fresh separator VideoS2.mp4 Ignition experiment video of E3 (EC/DEC-based electrolyte) VideoS3.mp4 Ignition experiment video of E5 (TMP-based electrolyte) VideoS4.mp4 Ignition experiment video of PNE (TEP-based electrolyte) VideoS5.mp4 Nail penetration test of E3 (EC/DEC-based) with 18650 cylindrical cell VideoS6.mp4 Nail penetration test of E5 (TMP-based) with 18650 cylindrical cell VideoS7.mp4 Nail penetration test of PNE (TEP-based) with 26700 cylindrical cell VideoS8.mp4 Nail penetration test of PNE (TEP-based) with 18650 cylindrical cell VideoS9.mp4 Immersion tests of sodium-deposited HC anode Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 06 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Energy → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6725956","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":460847565,"identity":"411016ce-6fbe-4a44-9952-ac5540b20e02","order_by":0,"name":"Yong-Sheng 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battery","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6725956/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6725956/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Safety is a fundamental criterion for determining rechargeable batteries in\r\nenergy storage applications1,2. Despite the great efforts in non-flammable\r\nelectrolytes, they still cannot achieve intrinsic safety so far in Ah-level batteries\r\nwithout thermal runaway3-10, and the relationship between the flame-retardancy\r\nof electrolytes and the safety performance of batteries is still unclear. Here, we\r\npropose a polymerizable and non-flammable electrolyte (PolyNonflyte or PNE). In addition to the inherent non-flammability, this formulation also leverages the\r\nsynergistic anion-cation solvation effect and undergoes thermally triggered\r\npolymerization, facilitating the optimized electrode-electrolyte interfacial\r\nchemistry and a cross-linked barrier that prevents mechanical/chemical\r\ninteractions between the electrodes with impeded side reactions and reductive\r\ngases generation. These features promise PNE to eliminate thermal runaway in\r\nAh-level cylindrical cells even when the temperature rises to 300°C in\r\naccelerating rate calorimeter and thermal abuse tests. The nail penetration tests\r\nwere also passed without fire, smoke, or explosion. Furthermore, batteries with\r\nthis electrolyte exhibit exceptional temperature adaptability between -40°C and\r\n60°C and a high energy density of 211 Wh/kg at 4.3 V. This work brings a new\r\ninsight of the battery safety beyond non-flammable electrolyte design and paves\r\nthe way towards safer and more efficient battery systems for energy storage\r\ntechnology.","manuscriptTitle":"Thermal runaway-free Ah-level Na-ion battery","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-05-26 05:07:28","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6725956/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-energy","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nenergy","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Energy](http://www.nature.com/nenergy/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Energy","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Research","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"0c9a52e4-e146-4b46-af0a-e5430f86a082","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 26th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":48950624,"name":"Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy storage/Batteries"},{"id":48950625,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Batteries"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-07T07:07:55+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-6725956","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-02032-7","journal":{"identity":"nature-energy","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Nature Energy"},"publishedOn":"2026-04-06 04:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 6th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-05-26 05:07:28","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41560-026-02032-7","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-02032-7","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6725956","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6725956","identity":"rs-6725956","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}