Recent Progress on the Alloy‐Based Anode for Sodium‐Ion Batteries and Potassium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

High‐energy batteries with low cost are urgently needed in the field of large‐scale energy storage, such as grid systems and renewable energy sources. Sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs) with alloy‐based anodes provide huge potential due to their earth abundance, high capacity, and suitable working potential, and are recognized as attractive alternatives for next‐generation batteries system. Although some important breakthroughs have been reported, more significant improvements are still required for long lifetime and high energy density. Herein, the latest progress for alloy‐based anodes for SIBs and PIBs is summarized, mainly including Sn, Sb, Ge, Bi, Si, P, and their oxides, sulfides, selenides, and phosphides. Specifically, the material designs for the desired Na+/K+ storage performance, phase transform, ionic/electronic transport kinetics, and specific chemical interactions are discussed. Typical structural features and research strategies of alloy‐based anodes, which are used to facilitate processes in battery development for SIBs and PIBs, are also summarized. The perspective of future research of SIBs and PIBs is outlined.

Rational Design of Sb@C@TiO2 Triple‐Shell Nanoboxes for High‐Performance Sodium‐Ion Batteries

“…[2,3] Although SIBs share a similar chemical storage mechanism with lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), finding suitable electrode materials that can effectively host Na + ions, which are larger than Li + ions, and are stable during cycling remains a considerable challenge. [4] Over the past decade, extensive efforts have been devoted to developing appropriate anode materials with a high rate capability and good cycling stability for SIBs, such as carbonaceous materials, [5][6][7] conversion-type materials (e.g., metal oxides, [8] chalcogenides, [9][10][11][12][13] and phosphides [14,15] ), intercalation compounds, [16][17][18][19][20][21] and alloy-type materials (e.g., Sb, [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] Bi, [29][30][31][32] P, [33][34][35] and Sn [36,37] ). Among them, metallic Sb is regarded as one of the most promising anode materials for SIBs because of its high theoretical capacity of around 660 mAh g −1 (corresponding to Na 3 Sb) and appropriate redox potential (0.5-0.8 V vs Na/Na + ).…”

Ionic‐Conducting and Robust Multilayered Solid Electrolyte Interphases for Greatly Improved Rate and Cycling Capabilities of Sodium Ion Full Cells

“…Moreover, the enhanced electrochemical performance was also proven to be effective even in the alloying‐type anode with large volume expansion. [ 13–21 ] The enhanced performance of bulk bismuth in an ether‐based electrolyte was first reported by Chen’s group; [ 19 ] the microsized bulk bismuth could be incorporated into a porous architecture during the cycling, which ensures continuous sodium‐ion transport and structural stability for over 2000 cycles. Motivated by an intriguing phenomenon where the SEI itself was associated with the cyclic stability, the sodium storage performances could be further enhanced by matching ether‐based electrolytes with bismuth‐based composite materials, such as Bi@C, [ 22 ] Bi/N‐C, [ 23 ] Bi/graphite, [ 24 ] and Bi/graphene.…”

Challenges of today for Na-based batteries of the future: From materials to cell metrics

“…Alloy-forming materials have been proposed to deliver a substantially improved capacity as negative electrodes compared to HCs while still operating at low potentials [129]. The possibility of delivering a large number of Na per each atom of the host negative electrode material has always been attractive and was the primary driving force for the development of the alloy-forming materials.…”