Sodium-ion batteries have garnered significant attention as a cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion batteries due to the abundance and affordability of sodium precursors. However, the lack of suitable electrode materials with both high capacity and excellent stability continues to hinder their practical viability. Herein, we couple lattice strain and sulfur deficiency effects in a tin monosulfide/reduced graphene oxide composite to enhance sodium storage performance. Experimental results and theoretical calculations reveal that the synergistic effects of lattice strain and sulfur vacancies in tin monosulfide promote rapid (de)intercalation near the surface/edge of the material, thereby enhancing its pseudocapacitive sodium storage properties. Consequently, the strained and defective tin monosulfide/reduced graphene oxide composite demonstrates a high reversible capacity of 511.82 mAh g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹ and an outstanding rate capability of 450.60 mAh g⁻¹ at 3 A g⁻¹. This study offers an effective strategy for improving sodium storage performance through lattice strain and defect engineering.

Rechargeable room-temperature (RT) sodium–sulfur (Na–S) batteries hold great potential for large-scale energy storage owing to their high energy density and low cost. However, their practical application is hindered by challenges such as polysulfide shuttling and Na dendrite formation. In this study, a dual salt-based quasi-solid polymer electrolyte (DS–QSPE) was developed via in situ polymerization, achieving high ionic conductivity (4.8 × 10⁻⁴ S·cm⁻¹ at 25 °C), a high sodium-ion transference number (0.73), and effective polysulfide confinement. Theoretical calculations and experimental results indicate that the enhanced Na-ion transport is attributed to the strengthened coordination of anions with the polydioxolane chain and the increased dissociation of sodium salts. Importantly, the DS–QSPE forms an interconnected network structure in the sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) cathode. This provides abundant and seamless electrochemical reaction interfaces that facilitate efficient and uniform ion transport pathways. As a result, the Na||SPAN battery with DS–QSPE delivers a high capacity of approximately 327.4 mAh·g⁻¹ (based on the mass of SPAN) after 200 cycles at 0.2 A·g⁻¹, retaining 81.4% of its initial capacity. This performance considerably surpasses that of batteries using liquid electrolytes. This study offers a straightforward approach to addressing the interfacial challenges in solid-state Na–S batteries.

Symmetrical solid oxide cells (SSOCs) are very useful for energy generation and conversion. To fabricate the electrode of SSOC, it is very time-consuming to use the conventional approach. In this work, we design and develop a novel method, extreme heat treatment (EHT), to rapidly fabricate electrodes for SSOC. We show that by using the EHT method, the electrode can be fabricated in seconds (the fastest method to date), benefiting from enhanced reaction kinetics. The EHT-fabricated electrode presents a porous structure and good adhesion with the electrolyte. In contrast, tens of hours are needed to prepare the electrode by the conventional approach, and the prepared electrode exhibits a dense structure with a larger particle size due to the lengthy treatment. The EHT-fabricated electrode shows desirable electrochemical performance. Moreover, we show that the electrocatalytic activity of the perovskite electrode can be tuned by the vigorous approach of fast exsolution, deriving from the increased active sites for enhancing the electrochemical reactions. At 900 ℃, a promising peak power density of 966 mW cm⁻² is reached. Our work exploits a new territory to fabricate and develop advanced electrodes for SSOCs in a rapid and high-throughput manner.

The increasing demand for new energy sources has promoted the improvement of the energy storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that urged the development of higher energy density cathode materials. The enhancement of the classical cathode in the last 30 years has reached a bottleneck, and then the discovery of the lithium-excess disordered materials has greatly expanded the research space of the cathode materials. Compared with the conventional layered oxides, the lithium-excess disordered rock-salt oxides (LEDRXs) with a more stable structure has higher extractable Li⁺ content, even though the inactive high-valent transition metals (TMs) were needed to compensate for the excess Li, which would reduce the total TM redox content. In addition, oxygen redox provides additional electron capacity for the materials, which also causes O loss and results in the subsequent poor cycle performance. Herein, a series of studies about LEDRXs and their targeted modification measures are summarized, including the prospect of the materials, in order to provide ideas for the design of high-performance LEDRXs. Finally, the new discoveries and outlook on future research directions of LEDRX cathode materials for LIBs with higher energy density are given.