The progress in the research work and real applications of sodium‐sulfur (NAS) battery in large scale energy storage is introduced. The key materials and interfaces of the battery, particularly the role of Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SICCAS), are systematically reviewed. As the most important and difficult part, the high‐quality beta‐ alumina ceramic electrolyte tubes are prepared by a low‐cost solid state reaction process; their sealing performance and interfacial behavior with molten sodium and sulfur electrodes could be substantially improved by glass ceramic type sealants and surface modification, respectively. Combination of carbon and additives like SiO2 with different wetting behaviors for sulfur and the discharge product sulfides is shown to be significant in improving the electrochemical performances of NAS battery. Conductive ceramic coatings are developed as anti‐corrosion media of the current collector of sulfur electrode; this is identified as an effective route to protect the metal parts.

NASICON‐type structured Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3–xLi2O Li‐ion‐conducting glass–ceramics were successfully prepared from as‐prepared glasses. The differential scanning calorimetry, X‐ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance, and field emission scanning electron microscope results reveal that the excess Li2O is not only incorporated into the crystal lattice of the NASICON‐type structure but also exists as a secondary phase and acts as a nucleating agent to considerably promote the crystallization of the as‐prepared glasses during heat treatment, leading to an improvement in the connection between the glass–ceramic grains and hence a dense microstructure with a uniform grain size. These beneficial effects enhance both the bulk and total ionic conductivities at room temperature, which reach 1.18 × 10−3 and 7.25 × 10−4 S/cm, respectively. In addition, the Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3–0.05Li2O glass–ceramics display favorable electrochemical stability against lithium metal with an electrochemical window of about 6 V. The high ionic conductivity, good electrochemical stability, and wide electrochemical window of LAGP–0.05LO glass–ceramics suggest that they are promising solid‐state electrolytes for all solid‐state lithium batteries with high power density.

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To enhance the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of Ni-based coatings, carbon fibers reinforced nickel-based composite coatings (CFs/Ni) were fabricated on the surface of 1Cr13 stainless steel by laser cladding (LC). The microstructure characteristics, microhardness, wear and corrosion performances of the composite coatings were investigated. The results show that CFs can effectively improve the corrosion and wear resistances of Ni-based coatings. With increasing laser scanning speed, the morphology of CFs in composite coatings is more integral and the corrosion

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