Vying for newer sodium-ion chemistry for rechargeable batteries, Na2FeP2O7 pyrophosphate has been recently unveiled as a 3 V high-rate cathode. In addition to its low cost and promising electrochemical performance, here we demonstrate Na2FeP2O7 as a safe cathode with high thermal stability. Chemical/electrochemical desodiation of this insertion compound has led to the discovery of a new polymorph of NaFeP2O7. High-temperature analyses of the desodiated state NaFeP2O7 show an irreversible phase transition from triclinic (P1̅) to the ground state monoclinic (P21/c) polymorph above 560 °C. It demonstrates high thermal stability, with no thermal decomposition and/or oxygen evolution until 600 °C, the upper limit of the present investigation. This high operational stability is rooted in the stable pyrophosphate (P2O7)4– anion, which offers better safety than other phosphate-based cathodes. It establishes Na2FeP2O7 as a safe cathode candidate for large-scale economic sodium-ion battery applications.

Sodium-ion batteries are attractive energy storage media owing to the abundance of sodium, but the low capacities of available cathode materials make them impractical. Sodium-excess metal oxides Na2MO3 (M: transition metal) are appealing cathode materials that may realize large capacities through additional oxygen redox reaction. However, the general strategies for enhancing the capacity of Na2MO3 are poorly established. Here using two polymorphs of Na2RuO3, we demonstrate the critical role of honeycomb-type cation ordering in Na2MO3. Ordered Na2RuO3 with honeycomb-ordered [Na1/3Ru2/3]O2 slabs delivers a capacity of 180 mAh g−1 (1.3-electron reaction), whereas disordered Na2RuO3 only delivers 135 mAh g−1 (1.0-electron reaction). We clarify that the large extra capacity of ordered Na2RuO3 is enabled by a spontaneously ordered intermediate Na1RuO3 phase with ilmenite O1 structure, which induces frontier orbital reorganization to trigger the oxygen redox reaction, unveiling a general requisite for the stable oxygen redox reaction in high-capacity Na2MO3 cathodes.

Na-ion batteries have been the subjects of intensive studies for grid-scale energy storage recently. O3-type NaFeO2 is a promising candidate for the Na-ion cathode materials, though the irreversibility during Na-ion extraction/insertion seriously hinders its practical application. The present work demonstrates that partial replacement of Fe in O3-NaFeO2 with Ni leads to the significant improvement of the electrochemical properties. The 57Fe Mössbauer and X-ray absorption spectra show that O3-type NaFeO2–NaNiO2 solid solution forms hybridized frontier orbital of a Fe–O–Ni bond via ligand-to-metal charge transfer, which plays a dominant role in the charge–discharge process. The resulting O3-NaFe0.3Ni0.7O2 delivers an initial discharge capacity of 135 mA·h·g–1, most of which is in a high-voltage region of 2.5–3.8 V, with a high initial Coulombic efficiency of 93%, and shows enhanced cycle stability.

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Pyrophosphate oxyanionic framework compounds offer a great platform to investigate new battery materials. In our continuing effort to explore pyrophosphate cathodes for sodium‐ion batteries, we report, for the first time, the synthesis and use of tetragonal Na2(VO)P2O7 as a potential sodium‐ion insertion material. This material can be easily prepared by using a conventional solid‐state route at a relatively low temperature of 400 °C. Stabilizing as a tetragonal structure with an open framework, the material offers pathways for Na+ diffusion. The as‐synthesized material, with no further cathode optimization, yields a reversible capacity (Q) approaching 80 mAh g−1 (QTheoretical=93.4 mAh g−1) involving a one electron V5+/V4+ redox potential located at 3.8 V (vs. Na/Na+). Furthermore, the material exhibits decent rate kinetics and reversibility. Combining green synthesis and moderate electrochemical properties, t‐Na2(VO)P2O7 is reported as a new addition to the growing family of pyrophosphate cathodes for sodium‐ion batteries.