Recent advances in electrospun electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have been considered as an ideal choice for the next generation large-scale energy storage applications owing to the rich sodium resources and the analogous working principle to that of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Nevertheless, the larger size and heavier mass of Na+ ion than those of Li+ ion often lead to sluggish reaction kinetics and inferior cycling life in SIBs compared to the LIB counterparts. The pursuit of promising electrode materials that can accommodate the rapid and stable Na-ion insertion/extraction is the key to promoting the development of SIBs toward a commercial prosperity. One-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials demonstrate great prospects in boosting the rate and cycling performances because of their large active surface areas, high endurance for deformation stress, short ions diffusion channels, and oriented electrons transfer paths. Electrospinning, as a versatile synthetic technology, features the advantages of controllable preparation, easy operation, and mass production, has been widely applied to fabricate the 1D nanostructured electrode materials for SIBs. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the recent advances in the sodium-storage cathode and anode materials prepared by electrospinning, discuss the effects of modulating the spinning parameters on the materials' micro/nano-structures, and elucidate the structure-performance correlations of the tailored electrodes. Finally, the future directions to harvest more breakthroughs in electrospun Na-storage materials are pointed out. (C) 2020 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Researchers have used electrospinning to prepare electrode materials for sodium storage, aiming to enhance the performance of SIBs. One-dimensional nanomaterials show promising prospects in improving the rate and cycling performances of SIBs due to their large active surface areas, high endurance for deformation stress, short ions diffusion channels, and oriented electrons transfer paths.