We
demonstrate a room-temperature sodium sulfur battery based on a confining
microporous carbon template derived from sucrose that delivers a reversible
capacity over 700 mAh/g<sub>S</sub> at 0.1C rates, maintaining 370
mAh/g<sub>S</sub> at 10 times higher rates of 1C. Cycling at 1C rates
reveals retention of over 300 mAh/g<sub>S</sub> capacity across 1500
cycles with Coulombic efficiency >98% due to microporous sulfur
confinement and stability of the sodium metal anode in a glyme-based
electrolyte. We show sucrose to be an ideal platform to develop microporous
carbon capable of mitigating electrode–electrolyte reactivity
and loss of soluble intermediate discharge products. In a manner parallel
to the low-cost materials of the traditional sodium beta battery,
our work demonstrates the combination of table sugar, sulfur, and
sodium, all of which are cheap and earth abundant, for a high-performance
stable room-temperature sodium sulfur battery
