Advancements in cutting-edge materials for sodium-ion battery anodes: A comprehensive review

The growing global demand for energy has made it imperative to develop sustainable electrical energy storage (EES) technologies that can ensure reliable performance, particularly given the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are increasingly viewed as highly prospective options for large-scale energy storage systems owing to their economical cost and the abundant availability of sodium reserves. Therefore, SIBs can be considered as feasible alternatives to the more prevalent lithium-ion batteries, which face challenges due to lithium scarcity and higher costs. Nevertheless, the commercialization of SIBs is challenging, mainly because of the difficulty in identifying electrode materials that enable the optimal performance. The primary issue is to achieve an adequate reversible capacity while maintaining a balance between costeffectiveness, energy density, cycle stability, and safety. Extensive research efforts are currently dedicated to addressing these challenges by focusing on the development and optimization of different cathode and anode materials. In this review, research progress on recent anode materials including carbons, insertion-based, conversion-alloy-based, and MXene materials for sodium-ion batteries were meticulously reported, with an emphasis on their morphology, synthesis techniques, advantages, disadvantages, and electrochemical performances. The primary focus of this review is to establish a comparative documentation of anode material categories for highperformance SIBs in efficient energy storage applications. Furthermore, the challenges and approaches for improving the stability and efficiency of SIB anodes are also discussed.