A new sodium storage mechanism of TiO2 for sodium ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted great interest for use as the next generation rechargeable batteries due to the abundant sodium natural resources and similar chemistry of lithium and sodium. TiO2 is an attractive candidate as an anode for SIBs due to its high safety, low cost, appropriate voltage platform and good structural stability during repeated charge-discharge processes. However, the sodium storage mechanism of TiO2 for SIBs remains unclear, which appears to be different from the working mechanism in lithium-ion batteries. This article highlights a recent report by Passerini's group, which successfully proposed a new sodium storage mechanism of TiO2 for SIBs.