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Abstract Sodium metal batteries (SMBs) are innovative and promising energy storage systems. SMBs are a competitive technological paradigm compared to the state‐of‐the‐art lithium‐ion batteries thanks to the high specific capacity of sodium metal, i. e., 1166 mAh g−1, and the Na+/Na0 low redox potential of −2.71 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode. Unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI), uncontrolled overpotentials and dendrite growth of sodium are the main drawbacks that hinder the development of SMBs. Herein, we propose a functionalized silica gel material with extended porosity (NaSGII) as an active host material in order to obtain stable cycling of sodium metal anodes. NaSGII was incorporated in composite electrodes using a conductive carbon additive and polymeric binders and the functional properties in SMBs cells demonstrated by galvanostatic tests. A Butler‐Volmer analysis demonstrated an improvement of electrokinetic parameters induced by NaSGII.

Lithium-rich layered oxides (LRLO) are a wide class of innovative active materials used in positive electrodes in lithium-ion (LIB) and lithium–metal secondary batteries (LMB). LRLOs are over-stoichiometric layered oxides rich in lithium and manganese with a general formula Li1+xTM1−xO2, where TM is a blend of transition metals comprising Mn (main constituent), Ni, Co, Fe and others. Due to their very variable composition and extended defectivity, their structural identity is still debated among researchers, being likely an unresolved hybrid between a monoclinic (mC24) and a hexagonal lattice (hR12). Once casted in composite positive electrode films and assembled in LIBs or LMBs, LRLOs can deliver reversible specific capacities above 220–240 mAhg−1, and thus they exceed any other available intercalation cathode material for LIBs, with mean working potential above 3.3–3.4 V vs Li for hundreds of cycles in liquid aprotic commercial electrodes. In this review, we critically outline the recent advancements in the fundamental understanding of the physical–chemical properties of LRLO as well as the most exciting innovations in their battery performance. We focus in particular on the elusive structural identity of these phases, on the complexity of the reaction mechanism in batteries, as well as on practical strategies to minimize or remove cobalt from the lattice while preserving its outstanding performance upon cycling.

In this manuscript, we report an extensive study of the physico-chemical properties of different samples of O3-NaMnO2, synthesized by sol–gel and solid state methods. In order to successfully synthesize the materials by sol–gel methods a rigorous control of the synthesis condition has been optimized. The electrochemical performances of the materials as positive electrodes in aprotic sodium-ion batteries have been demonstrated. The effects of different synthesis methods on both structural and electrochemical features of O3-NaMnO2 have been studied to shed light on the interplay between structure and performance. Noticeably, we obtained a material capable of attaining a reversible capacity exceeding 180 mAhg−1 at 10 mAg−1 with a capacity retention >70% after 20 cycles. The capacity fading mechanism and the structural evolution of O3-NaMnO2 upon cycling have been extensively studied by performing post-mortem analysis using XRD and Raman spectroscopy. Apparently, the loss of reversible capacity upon cycling originates from irreversible structural degradations.

Li-rich layered oxide (LRLO) materials are promising positive-electrode materials for Li-ion batteries. Antisite defects, especially nickel and lithium ions, occur spontaneously in many LRLOs, but their impact on the functional properties in batteries is controversial. Here, we illustrate the analysis of the formation of Li/Ni antisite defects in the layered lattice of the Co-free LRLO Li1.2Mn0.6Ni0.2O2 compound through a combination of density functional theory calculations performed on fully disordered supercells and a thermodynamic model. Our goal was to evaluate the concentration of antisite defects in the trigonal lattice as a function of temperature and shed light on the native disorder in LRLO and how synthesis protocols can promote the antisite defect formation.

The replacement of cobalt in the lattice of lithium-rich layered oxides (LRLO) is mandatory to improve their environmental benignity and reduce costs. In this study, we analyze the impact of the cobalt removal from the trigonal LRLO lattice on the structural, thermodynamic, and electronic properties of this material through density functional theory calculations. To mimic disorder in the transition metal layers, we exploited the special quasi-random structure approach on selected supercells. The cobalt removal was modeled by the simultaneous substitution with Mn/Ni, thus leading to a p-doping in the lattice. Our results show that cobalt removal induces (a) larger cell volumes, originating from expanded distances among stacked planes; (b) a parallel increase of the layer buckling; (c) an increase of the electronic disorder and of the concentration of Jahn–Teller defects; and (d) an increase of the thermodynamic stability of the phase. Overall p-doping appears as a balanced strategy to remove cobalt from LRLO without massively deteriorating the structural integrity and the electronic properties of LRLO.

Transition-metal (TM) layered oxides have been attracting enormous interests in recent decades because of their excellent functional properties as positive electrode materials in lithium-ion batteries. In particular LiCoO2 (LCO), LiNiO2 (LNO) and LiMnO2 (LMO) are the structural prototypes of a large family of complex compounds with similar layered structures incorporating mixtures of transition metals. Here, we present a comparative study on the phase stability of LCO, LMO and LNO by means of first-principles calculations, considering three different lattices for all oxides, i.e., rhombohedral (hR12), monoclinic (mC8) and orthorhombic (oP8). We provide a detailed analysis—at the same level of theory—on geometry, electronic and magnetic structures for all the three systems in their competitive structural arrangements. In particular, we report the thermodynamics of formation for all ground state and metastable phases of the three compounds for the first time. The final Gibbs Energy of Formation values at 298 K from elements are: LCO(hR12) −672 ± 8 kJ mol−1; LCO(mC8) −655 ± 8 kJ mol−1; LCO(oP8) −607 ± 8 kJ mol−1; LNO(hR12) −548 ± 8 kJ mol−1; LNO(mC8) −557 ± 8 kJ mol−1; LNO(oP8) −548 ± 8 kJ mol−1; LMO(hR12) −765 ± 10 kJ mol−1; LMO(mC8) −779 ± 10 kJ mol−1; LMO(oP8) −780 ± 10 kJ mol−1. These values are of fundamental importance for the implementation of reliable multi-phase thermodynamic modelling of complex multi-TM layered oxide systems and for the understanding of thermodynamically driven structural phase degradations in real applications such as lithium-ion batteries.