From Crystalline to Amorphous: An Effective Avenue to Engineer High-Performance Electrode Materials for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Room-temperature rechargeable sodium-ion batteries appear to be promising alternatives for grid and other storage applications to lithium-ion batteries because of the natural abundance, low cost, and environmental benignity of sodium. In response to the ever-increasing development for these technologies, an intensive exploration for appropriate electrode materials with high energy density is still underway. This Progress Report highlights the recent research in the investigation of amorphous materials, whose isotropic physical and chemical properties can provide multiple pathways for ions and facilitate ion diffusion. This Progress Report focuses on sodium-ion batteries, but it is hoped that the engineering strategies may provide guidance on further research and design of functional materials for both sodium and potassium-ion batteries.