Abstract:
Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in portable electronics, but their application in grid-scale energy storage is limited due to lithium’s high cost and resource constraints. As a more affordable alternative, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) offer the promise of large-scale deployment. Among various cathode materials, O3-type NaNi
0.4Fe
0.2Mn
0.4O
2 (NFM424) demonstrates high capacity and ease of synthesis, yet suffers from structural degradation and sluggish Na
+ kinetics caused by large ionic radius and strong electrostatic interactions. To overcome these issues, a configuration strategy combined with TiO
2 and Co
3O
4 was introduced to improve structural and electrochemical stability. The resulting NaNi
0.4Fe
0.2Mn
0.3Co
0.05Ti
0.05O
2 (NFMCT) cathode mitigated Na
+/vacancy ordering while enhancing phase integrity and diffusion pathways. Synthesized via high-temperature solid-state reaction, NFMCT maintained 93.7 mAh·g
–1 after 550 cycles at 1 C, with superior rate capabilities at 2 C and 5 C. These findings deepen the understanding of configuration strategy by using multi-element oxide and highlight a practical strategy for designing high-performance SIB cathodes.