Challenges and Design Strategies for Conversion-Based Anode Materials for Lithium- and Sodium-Ion Batteries

Although lithium-ion batteries are currently the most reliable power supply system for various mobile applications, further improvement in energy density is still required as the need for batteries in large energy-consuming devices is rapidly growing. However, in the anode, the most widely commercialized graphite-based anode materials almost face theoretical limitations. In addition, sodium-ion batteries have been actively studied to replace expensive charge carriers with cheaper ones. Accordingly, conversion-based materials have been extensively studied as high-capacity anode materials in both lithiumion batteries and sodium-ion batteries because their theoretical capacity is twice or thrice higher than that of insertion-based materials. This review will provide a comprehensive understanding of conversion-based materials, including basic charge storage behaviors, critical drawbacks that should be overcome, and practical material design for high-performance.