As the battery technology field continues to grow rapidly into applications such as electric vehicles and stationary energy storage, there is a need for alternative rechargeable batteries.  Although lithium-ion batteries have recently dominated the rechargeable battery market, there are serious concerns regarding the limited availability and cost of lithium. ⁽¹⁾  Sodium-ion batteries (SIB) offer an alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries (LIB) as they have the potential to be lower cost and provide comparable capacities.  Electrodes that provide high capacities, voltages and reversibility are required for developing high performance SIBs.  The larger ionic radius of Na-ions compared to Li-ions requires electrode materials that can reversibly accommodate the larger Na-ions.  Nanoscale materials have been shown to be a promising route to provide improved electrodes for Na-ion batteries.⁽²⁾  Our group has investigated transition metal compounds (MX_y, M=V, Fe and Mn and X=O) where the nanoscale structure presents a unique structural design in which two-dimensional materials are produced.  The shape, sizes and composition of the metal oxide materials can be controlled.  In this talk, we will present the synthesis, structure and electrochemical performance of nanostructured metal oxide cathodes for sodium-ion batteries.

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2). J. Zhu, D. Deng, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 3079-3083.