Sodium compensation: a critical technology for transforming batteries from sodium-starved to sodium-rich systems.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted wide attention from academia and industry due to the low cost and abundant sodium resources. Despite the rapid industrialization development of SIBs, it still faces problems such as a low initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) leading to a significant decrease in battery energy density (., 20%).

Defect engineering of air-stable LiFeO towards an ultra-high capacity cathode prelithiation additive.

Antifluorite-type LiFeO (LFO) belongs to a class of promising prelithiation materials for next-generation high-energy lithium-ion batteries. Unfortunately, the incomplete de-lithiation performance and inferior air stability hinder its application. In this work, ultra-high capacity is achieved by selective doping of Zr into the Fe sites (LFO-Zr) of LFO to form a large number of defects.

A study of the capacity fade of a LiCoO/graphite battery during the temperature storage process at 45 °C under different SOCs.

Lithium-ion batteries with lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO) as a cathode and graphite as an anode are promising energy storage systems. However, the high-temperature storage mechanism under different states of charge (SOCs) conditions in batteries remains inadequately elucidated, and a clear storage policy has yet to be established. This study investigates and compares the capacity decay mechanism of a 63 mA h LiCoO/graphite battery at 45 °C under various SOCs (100%, 75%, 50%, 30%, 0%), while also analysing the underlying reasons for this decay.

Harmless pre-lithiation via advantageous surface reconstruction in sacrificial cathode additives for lithium-ion batteries.

Sacrificial cathode additives have emerged as a tempting strategy to compensate the initial capacity loss (ICL) in Li-ion batteries (LIBs) manufacturing. However, the utilization of sacrificial cathode additives inevitably brings residuals, side reactions, and negative impacts in which relevant researches are still in the early stage. In this study, we conduct a systematic investigation on the effects of employing a nickel-based sacrificial additive, LiCuNiO (LCNO), and propose a feasible strategy to achieve advantageous surface reconstruction on LCNO.

Direct Observation of the Evolutionary Process in Room-Temperature Sodium-Sulfur/Selenium Batteries Using Light Microscopy.

Understanding the conversion mechanism of active materials in the electrode is essential to guide the design of room-temperature sodium-sulfur/selenium (RT Na-S/Se) batteries. However, there is still some confusion regarding the dissolution and formation of the insulating active particles. Conventional detection methods have difficulty in capturing and presenting the dynamic processes of these microscopic particles in the "black box" battery.

Rational design of intergrowth P2/O3 biphasic layered structure with reversible anionic redox chemistry and structural evolution for Na-ions batteries.

Layered oxides have attracted unprecedented attention for their outstanding performance in sodium-ion battery cathodes. Among them, the two typical candidates P2 and O3 type materials generally demonstrate large diversities in specific capacity and cycling endurance with their advantages. Thus, composite materials that contain both P2 and O3 have been widely designed and constructed.

Stabilization of Multicationic Redox Chemistry in Polyanionic Cathode by Increasing Entropy.

Polyanionic compounds have large compositional flexibility, which creates a growing interest in exploring the property limits of electrode materials of rechargeable batteries. The realization of multisodium storage in the polyanionic electrodes can significantly improve capacity of the materials, but it often causes irreversible capacity loss and crystal phase evolution, especially under high-voltage operation, which remain important challenges for their application. Herein, it is shown that the multisodium storage in the polyanionic cathode can be enhanced and stabilized by increasing the entropy of the polyanionic host structure.

Heteroatom-Substituted P2-NaNiMgMnO Cathode with {010} Exposing Facets Boost Anionic Activity and High-Rate Performance for Na-Ion Batteries.

As an attractive cathode candidate for sodium-ion batteries, P2-type NaNiMnO is famous for its high stability in humid air, attractive capacity, and high operating voltage. However, the low Na transport kinetics, oxygen-redox reactions, and irreversible structural evolution at high-voltage areas hinder its practical application. Herein, a comprehensive study of a microbar P2-type NiNiMgMnO material with {010} facets is presented, which exhibits high reversibility of structural evolution and anionic redox activity, leading to outstanding rate capability and cyclability.

An advanced BiPO/super P anode material for high-performance potassium-ion batteries.

Dispersed BiPO nanoparticles loaded on the surface of a super P conducting network (BiPO/SP) were fabricated and investigated as a novel anode for PIBs. The BiPO/SP electrode demonstrates high rate capability (97.1 mA h g at 500 mA g) and good long-term cycling performance (116 mA h g at 200 mA g over 100 cycles).

Boosting potassium-storage performance via confining highly dispersed molybdenum dioxide nanoparticles within N-doped porous carbon nano-octahedrons.

The development of durable and stable metal oxide anodes for potassium ion batteries (PIBs) has been hampered by poor electrochemical performance and ambiguous reaction mechanisms. Herein, we design and fabricate molybdenum dioxide (MoO)@N-doped porous carbon (NPC) nano-octahedrons through metal-organic frameworks derived strategy for PIBs with MoO nanoparticles confined within NPC nano-octahedrons. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of nanoparticle level of MoO and N-doped carbon porous nano-octahedrons, the MoO@NPC electrode exhibits superior electron/ion transport kinetics, excellent structural integrity, and impressive potassium-ion storage performance with enhanced cyclic stability and high-rate capability.

Enhanced Activity and Reversibility of Anionic Redox by Tuning Lithium Vacancies in Li-Rich Cathode Materials.

Li-rich Mn-based layered oxide cathodes (LLOs) are considered to be the most promising cathode candidates for lithium-ion batteries owing to their high-voltage platform and ultrahigh specific capacity originating from anionic redox. However, anionic redox results in many problems including irreversible oxygen release, voltage hysteresis, and so on. Although many efforts have been made to regulate anionic redox, a fundamental issue, the effect of lithium vacancies on anionic redox, is still unclear.

Stabilizing Na metal anode with NaF interface on spent cathode carbon from aluminum electrolysis.

We report the synthesis of spent cathode carbon (SCC) with a NaF interface from aluminum electrolysis, and its application as a Na metal anode host. The SCC anode exhibits superior ion conductivity and a high shear modulus. The natural NaF interface on the SCC anode can regulate Na+ transmission and inhibit dendrite growth.

Encapsulating VO Nanoparticles in Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanosheets via C-O-V Bonds for Fast and Durable Potassium-Ion Storage.

Vanadium oxide (VO) has been considered as a promising anode material for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs), but challenging as well for the low electron/ion conductivity and poor structural stability. To tackle these issues, herein, a novel sheetlike hybrid nanoarchitecture constructed by uniformly encapsulating VO nanoparticles in amorphous carbon nanosheets (VO@C) with the generation of C-O-V bonding is presented. Such a subtle architecture effectively facilitates the infiltration of electrolyte, relieves the mechanical strain, and reduces the potassium-ion diffusion distance during the repetitive charging/discharging processes.

Engineering 3D Well-Interconnected NaMnV(PO) Facilitates Ultrafast and Ultrastable Sodium Storage.

NaMnV(PO) (denoted as NMVP) has drawn increasing attention owing to the three-dimensional framework and high theoretical capacity. Nevertheless, the inherent low electronic conductivity of NMVP impedes the scale-up commercial applications. In this work, the feasibility to achieve ultrahigh-rate capability and long lifespan by in situ embedding the intertwined carbon nanotube (CNT) matrix into the bulk of NaMnV(PO)@C composites through a facile wet-chemical approach is reported.