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.