Carbon‐Based Alloy‐Type Composite Anode Materials toward Sodium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

In the scenario of renewable clean energy gradually replacing fossil energy, grid‐scale energy storage systems are urgently necessary, where Na‐ion batteries (SIBs) could supply crucial support, due to abundant Na raw materials and a similar electrochemical mechanism to Li‐ion batteries. The limited energy density is one of the major challenges hindering the commercialization of SIBs. Alloy‐type anodes with high theoretical capacities provide good opportunities to address this issue. However, these anodes suffer from the large volume expansion and inferior conductivity, which induce rapid capacity fading, poor rate properties, and safety issues. Carbon‐based alloy‐type composites (CAC) have been extensively applied in the effective construction of anodes that improved electrochemical performance, as the carbon component could alleviate the volume change and increase the conductivity. Here, state‐of‐the‐art CAC anode materials applied in SIBs are summarized, including their design principle, characterization, and electrochemical performance. The corresponding alloying mechanism along with its advantages and disadvantages is briefly presented. The crucial roles and working mechanism of the carbon matrix in CAC anodes are discussed in depth. Lastly, the existing challenges and the perspectives are proposed. Such an understanding critically paves the way for tailoring and designing suitable alloy‐type anodes toward practical applications.

Heterostructure Engineering of Core‐Shelled Sb@Sb2O3 Encapsulated in 3D N‐Doped Carbon Hollow‐Spheres for Superior Sodium/Potassium Storage

“…As far as we know, the outstanding stability of this unique Sb@Sb 2 O 3 @N‐3DCHs has surpassed most of the reported Sb‐based materials for SIBs anodes. [ 6,7,9,10,27,29,30 ] The above results can undoubtedly indicate the structural advantages of the core‐shelled heterostructure materials and open up a new concept for the construction of high‐performance SIBs anode materials.…”

“…Among them, the hollow/core–shell structure, carbon‐coated nanoparticle composites, and heteroatom doping are the most popular ways to meliorate the cycling life, as well as enhance the Na + /K + diffusion kinetics. [ 7,10–17 ] Typically, Sun et al. designed nitrogen/sulfur co‐doped hollow carbon nanospheres combined with reduced graphene oxide nanosheets encapsulated nanoscale MoSe 2 /CoSe 2 .As expected, the synergistic effect of the above components ensures the rapid transfer of Na/K‐ion, thus leading to excellent rate and cycle performance.…”

The Functional Chameleon of Materials Chemistry—Combining Carbon Structures into All‐Carbon Hybrid Nanomaterials with Intrinsic Porosity to Overcome the “Functionality‐Conductivity‐Dilemma” in Electrochemical Energy Storage and Electrocatalysis

“…For many years, sp 2 ‐dominant carbon‐ and carbon‐based materials have been playing a crucial role in electrochemical applications. This includes but is not limited to their use for electrochemical energy storage in battery [ 1–4 ] or supercapacitor electrodes, [ 5–10 ] as catalyst or catalyst support in electrochemical energy conversion, [ 11–14 ] or as a selective adsorbent in electrochemical sensing [ 15–17 ] and purification applications. [ 18,19 ] The most obvious point that all these applications have in common is that they rely on the transport of electrons combined with the interaction between carbon and a “guest species” from the environment.…”

Beyond Lithium-Based Batteries

“…Below we extract the main topics and points. Readers interested in more detail are referred to specific overviews on Na-ion batteries [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43].…”