A reflection on ‘A new strategy for developing superior electrode materials for advanced batteries: using a positive cycling trend to compensate the negative one to achieve ultralong cycling stability’

Abstract

The development of durable, high-capacity electrode materials remains a critical challenge in battery research. At the time of our study (2015–2016), conventional anodes often exhibited a trade-off between high initial capacity and poor cycling stability. Our Nanoscale Horizons article in 2016 (D.-H. Liu, H.-Y. Lü, X.-L. Wu, J. Wang, X. Yan, J.-P. Zhang, H. Geng, Y. Zhang and Q. Yan, Nanoscale Horiz., 2016, 1(6), 496–501, https://doi.org/10.1039/C6NH00150E) discovered that manganese oxide (MnO), when embedded in a conductive matrix, unexpectedly demonstrated capacity enhancement with repeated cycling. By integrating this with volume-expanding silicon into a hierarchical core–shell Si@MnO structure, encased in reduced graphene oxide, we achieved long-term cycling stability with good capacities and high current densities. This breakthrough introduced a new paradigm in composite electrode design. Our work not only led to extensive citations across sodium- and zinc-ion battery systems but also influenced further studies on materials like FeS–ZnS, VO_x, and SnPS₃. Reflecting on this journey, we recognize that modern in situ/operando techniques and AI-guided material screening could have further accelerated optimization. Today, as multivalent and beyond-Li battery technologies advance, the foundational ideas of dynamic capacity pairing and structural synergy continue to inform next-generation electrode innovation.