arXiv subjects

Johannes Baller

Publications and source records attributed to Johannes Baller.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Non-reactive sintering enhances density and ionic conductivity of NASICON solid electrolytes

NASICON materials are promising solid electrolytes for room-temperature sodium solid-state batteries and are typically synthesized via solid-state reaction. While sintering has been extensively studied, the effect of calcination on electrolyte properties remains poorly understood. In this work, the temperatures at which the NASICON phase forms in Na3Zr2Si2PO12 and Na3.4Zr2Si2.4P0.6O12 are identified. Calcination temperature is then varied between 900 °C and 1200 °C to obtain powders with different degrees of reaction prior to sintering. Under identical sintering conditions, higher NASICON phase content in the calcined powder is shown to yield denser electrolytes. Non-reactive sintering also improves grain boundary conductivity, increasing it by 130% for Na3.4Zr2Si2.4P0.6O12 and raising total conductivity from 1.60 to 2.95 mS/cm for powders calcined at 900 °C and 1200 °C, respectively. Finally, it is shown that phosphorus loss during processing compromises cycling stability against Na metal electrodes, and that adding off-stoichiometric phosphorus resolves this issue, while reaching a critical current density of 5.0 mA/cm^2 and a room-temperature conductivity of 3.82 mS/cm with over 400 hours of stable cycling. Overall, these findings directly relate synthesis and processing conditions to the final material properties and electrochemical performance of NASICON solid electrolytes.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Wetting Interactions Between Porous Carbon Hosts and Liquid Sodium-Potassium Alloys Toward Their Use in Negative Electrodes of Alkali-Metal Batteries

Batteries with liquid alkali-metal negative electrodes offer a route to compact, high-performance energy storage. Innovation in alkali-metal management, i.e., controlled storage, release and transport of liquid alkali metal, can enable simpler and cheaper cell designs. Porous carbons have emerged as potential host materials for liquid alkali metals. Here, we study the wetting interactions between porous carbon hosts and liquid sodium-potassium alloy (NaK) as a function of carbon host morphology and surface functionalization via X-ray computed tomography. While as-received carbon samples show no affinity towards NaK, heat-treated carbon is spontaneously infiltrated with NaK filling almost the entire pore volume. We explore how forced wetting partially fills pores of NaK-repellent hosts, showing large differences in pore filling based on the average pore size of the host material. In electrochemical discharge experiments, we show that both as-received and heat-treated carbon felt enable high areal capacities beyond 40 mAh cm-2. However, the heat-treated carbon shows ten times lower overpotential. Finally, we demonstrate how heat-treated carbon felt can enable capillary transport of NaK. In summary, this study elucidates important aspects of the interactions between liquid alkali metals and porous carbon hosts, generating insights into possible applications in liquid alkali-metal batteries.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2023

Sustainable, low-cost sorbents based on calcium chloride-loaded polyacrylamide hydrogels

Sorbents are promising materials for applications in atmospheric water harvesting, thermal energy storage, and passive cooling, thereby addressing central challenges related to water scarcity and the global energy transition. Recently, hygroscopic hydrogel composites have emerged as high-performance sorbents. However, many of these systems are fabricated with unsustainable and costly sorbent materials, which hinders their wide deployment. Here, the synthesis of high-performance, cost-efficient polyacrylamide hydrogels loaded with unprecedented amounts of calcium chloride is demonstrated. To this end, the swelling procedure of polyacrylamide hydrogels in aqueous calcium chloride solutions is optimized. The achievable salt loading in the hydrogel is characterized as a function of temperature, calcium chloride concentration in the swelling solution, and the hydrogel preparation conditions. The obtained hydrogel-salt composites are shown to be stable under repeated sorption-desorption cycling and enable water uptakes of 0.92 and 2.38 grams of water per gram of dry materials at 30% and 70% relative humidity, respectively. The resulting cost-performance ratio substantially exceeds lithium chloride-based systems. Further, the mechanistic insights on hydrogel salt interactions can guide the design of sustainable and low-cost sorbent materials for future applications in water and energy.

cond-mat.soft↗