Recent progress of emerging cathode materials for sodium ion batteries

Abstract

Recently, due to the excessive consumption of fossil energy and the intermittent nature of clean energy resources, electricity storage has attracted great attention from both academia and industry. Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with high energy density have been widely used for portable energy storage systems. However, limited lithium resources cannot meet the demands for large-scale applications, especially the grid-scale energy storage. Owing to the abundant natural resources of sodium and the low price, sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have become potential substitutes for LIBs. Cathode materials are key components that determine the overall performance and entire cost of SIBs. However, the unstable structure and limited electrochemical performance make them difficult to meet the requirement of practical applications. This review summarizes the recent development of the cathode materials used for SIBs, and the modified strategies applied to improve their electrochemical performance. Finally, critical challenges and perspectives to promote the development of SIBs are also presented.