Materials Innovation and Operando Characterization in Na-Ion Batteries

TH Department Seminar
Date: Apr 30, 2026
Time: 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Prof. Philipp Adelhelm
Institute of Chemistry, Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany | CE-GOBA, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Berlin, Germany | Center for the Science of Materials Berlin (CSMB), Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany
Location: https://zoom.us/j/96795549915?pwd=GimuyXKCyGLByx5r03mgpx05b8KwWR.1
Room: Meeting ID: 967 9554 9915 | Passcode: 904639
Host: TH Department

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have undergone rapid development in recent years and are now entering the market. The main driver for the development of SIBs is to provide a second technology for high performance energy storage alongside Li-Ion batteries (LIBs). The energy density of SIBs is close to that of LIBs, but they could be cheaper, more environmentally friendly and rely on their own more robust supply chains. In addition, SIBs could be developed to have unique properties that complement LIBs, such as fast charging or low temperature performance. While some of the promises of SIBs have been realised, others have yet to be fulfilled.

Materials development on SIBs is largely inspired by the more mature LIB technology. However, the choice of anode and cathode materials for SIBs is large and the clear winners of the development remain yet to be identified. This talk gives an overview of state-of-art SIBs and trends in the materials development^1,2. Examples include layered oxides^3,4, co-intercalation electrodes (graphite^5,6 and layered sulphides^7,8), hard carbon⁹, metals (tin¹⁰, silicon¹¹) and metal plating for anode-free cell designs with NFPP as cathode active material¹².

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3. Y. Li et al. Adv. Functional Materials, 2026, DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202519132

4. Y. Li et al., Adv. Materials 2024, DOI: 10.1002/adma.202309842

5. G. A. Ferrero et al., Chemical Reviews, 2025, DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.4c00805

6. G. Avall et al. Adv. Energy Materials, 2023, DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202301944

7. G. A Ferrero et al., Adv. Energy Materials, 2022, DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202202377

8. Y. Sun et al., Nature Materials, 2025, DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02287-7

9. Escher et al., Adv. Mater. Interfaces, 2021, DOI: 10.1002/admi.202100596

10. T. Palaniselvam et al., Adv. Funct. Materials, 2019, DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201900790

11. Y. Kravets et al. Batteries and Supercaps, 2025, DOI: 10.1002/batt.202400690

12. M. Exner et al. Adv. Science, 2026, DOI: 10.1002/advs.202600058