Sodium and lithium incorporated cathode materials for energy storage applications - A focused review

The idea of lithium (Li)/sodium (Na) incorporated cathodes for both Li/Na-ion batteries has gained significant consideration throughout the past decade. The encouraging performance of various reported Li/Na incorporated cathode systems has the potential to review their exciting developments made so far to clearly understand the effect of numerous variables in improving the electrochemical performance. The current manuscript provides a focused review on the synthesis and electrochemical performance of these Li/Na incorporated cathode materials for Na/Li-ion batteries. Furthermore, the ruling mechanisms affecting the electrochemical performance of Li/Na incorporated cathode materials have been summarized. The majority of the synthesized Li/Na incorporated cathodes demonstrate good electrochemical cyclic stability, capacity retention, rate capability, charge/discharge capacity, etc. Li incorporated Na-based cathodes, show improved performance that can be attributed to the prevention of phase transformation at high voltages and loss of transition metal from the cathode. In the case of Na addition to Li-based cathodes, the Na pillaring effect significantly improves the Li interface layer stability, increases Li-ion diffusion, and retardation of Li and/or transition metal disordering. Various factors affecting the performance of Li/Na incorporated cathode families have been discussed that can be taken into account for development of future novel cathode materials demonstrating decent performance.