Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have come up as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for large-scale applications because of abundant Na storage in the earth's crust. Antimony (Sb) hollow nanospheres (HNSs) obtained by galvanic replacement were first applied as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries and exhibited superior electrochemical performances with high reversible capacity of 622.2 mAh g(-1) at a current density of 50 mA g(-1) after 50 cycles, close to the theoretical capacity (660 mAh g(-1)); even at high current density of 1600 mA g(-1), the reversible capacities can also reach 315 mAh g(-1). The benefits of this unique structure can also be extended to LIBs, resulting in reversible capacity of 627.3 mAh g(-1) at a current density of 100 mAh g(-1) after 50 cycles, and at high current density of 1600 mA g(-1), the reversible capacity is 435.6 mAhg(-1). Thus, these benefits from the Sb HNSs are able to provide a robust architecture for SIBs and LIBs anodes.

A NASICON-structure Na3V2(PO4)3 cathode material prepared by carbothermal reduction method is employed in a hybrid-ion battery with Li-involved electrolyte and anode. The ion-transportation mechanism is firstly investigated in this complicated system for an open three-dimensional framework Na3V2(PO4)3. Ion-exchange is greatly influenced by the standing time, for example, the 1 hour battery presents a specific capacity of 128 mA h g(-1) while the 24 hour battery exhibits a value of 148 mA h g(-1) with improved rate and cycling performances over existing literature reported Li-ion batteries. In the hybrid-ion system, an ion-exchange process likely takes place between the two Na(2) sites in the rhombohedral structure. NaLi2V2(PO4)3 could be produced by ion-transportation since the Na(+) in the Na(1) site is stationary and the three Na(2) sites could be used to accommodate the incoming alkali ions; Li(x)Na(y)V2(PO4)3 would come out when the vacant site in Na(2) was occupied depending on the applied voltage range. The reported methodology and power characteristics are greater than those previously reported.

a * C quantum dots coated Mn3O4 composite (Mn3O4/Cdots) has been firstly obtained by a green alternating voltage electrochemical approach. Interestingly note that the morphology of Mn3O4 particles in the composite can be induced to form octahedral structure through the introduction of C quantum dots. In particular, the as-produced Mn3O4/Cdots composite utilized as anode material for lithium ion batteries demonstrates much great electrochemical performances, showing an enhanced reversible discharge capacity of 934 mAh g -1 after 50 cycles at the current density of 100 mA g -1 which is almost five times as much as that of pure Mn3O4.

Lithium titanium oxide with the cubic spinel structure, Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 (LTO), has been extensively investigated as anode materials for the next-generation lithium ion batteries because of its intrinsic characteristics, such as the stable charge/discharge platform at 1.5 V vs. Li + /Li, which is just above the formation of SEI. Also note that it has zero strain features during the lithium intercalation/extraction. [9][10][11][12][13][14] It was not surprising to see that proprietary nanostructured LTO was fi rstly introduced to replace the traditional graphite materials in EVs and advanced energy storage systems by Altairnano. [ 15 ] Nevertheless, the rate performance of pristine LTO is relatively poor due to its moderate Li + diffusion coeffi cient and low electrical conductivity. It should be pointed out that the LTO-based LIBs suffer from severe gassing during charge/discharge cycles, resulting from interfacial reactions between LTO and surrounding alkyl carbonate solvents, which hinders its large-scale applications in LIBs industries. [16][17][18][19] To suppress the gassing issues, an effective strategy of constructing a barrier between the LTO and the surrounding electrolyte solution has been designed. [ 19 ] In terms of the improvement of rate capability, many methods including designing of novel micro-nanostructure, doping with foreign atoms and conductive agents incorporating, have been exploited up to now. [ 10,13,14 ] Micro-nanostructured LTO materials, with short transportation distance for both Li + and electrons, have been extensively developed to increase the rate capability. [20][21][22][23][24] However, the preparation of these structured materials in large scale is costly and quite challenging. The conductivity and rate performance of LTO can also be tuned by doping some foreign atoms. [ 10,13,14,25,26 ] Recently, phosphidated-Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 was fabricated by Park et al. via the thermal decomposition of trioctylphosphine. [ 24 ] This material with enhanced Li + conductivity improved the rate performance to a capacity of 100 mAh g −1 at a rate of 10C (1C = 175 mA g −1 ). This enhancement is meaningful but still not good enough for applications in EVs or large-scale energy storage.Another good choice to enhance the rate performance is conductive agents incorporating. Graphene, a single-atomthick sheet of honeycomb carbon lattice, was recently chosen as a conductive additive to improve the capabilities of LTO composites due to its superior electrical conductivity (64 mS cm −1 ), extremely high theoretical surface area (2675 m 2 g −1 ) andNonoxidative cathodically induced graphene (CIG) here incorporates conductive agents for Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 (LTO) anode materials. The tailored LTO/CIG composite is fabricated by controlled hydrolysis of tetrabutyl titanate in the presence of nonoxidative defect-free cathodically induced graphene (CIG) and oxalic acid in a mixed solvent of ethanol and water, followed by hydrothermal reaction and a calcination treatment. Due to the introduction of defect-free graphene, t...