New glass-ceramic sealants for Na/S battery

The sodium sulfur (Na/S) battery is one of the most promising candidates for energy storage applications developed since the 1980s. However, the seal between the alpha-alumina and beta-alumina in the Na/S battery presents a challenge. In this work, the new glass-ceramic sealants for the Na/S battery have been developed. The borosilicate glass was chosen as the basic glass and TiO2 as the nucleating agent. The sintering behavior was evaluated by the shrinkage curves and the densities of the sintered samples. The sintering temperature of 750 A degrees C was obtained. The thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of the glass-ceramic sealants matched well with that of the alpha-alumina and beta-alumina. The thermal shock resistance and chemical stability of the sealants were also satisfactory. No microcracking was observed in the sealants after thermal shock for 100 times. The diffusion layer of about 10 mu m was found between the glass and the substrate after 850 h. However, the densification of the sealants remained to be further improved. The factors influencing the densification of the sealants were clarified, and the possible solving means were proposed.