Battery storage systems with high energy density, safety, cost-effectiveness and wide operating temperatures are needed for smart grid integration. High-energy lithium-ion systems, quasi-solid-state configurations and sodium-ion batteries were among the main strategies pursued in 2025 to achieve that goal.
Key advances
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Regulating the charge cut-off voltage and engineering a lithium-deficient surface layer helped to enhance the capacity retention of lithium-rich manganese-based layered cathodes2.
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Quasi-solid-state lithium-ion batteries, which combine reduced flammable electrolyte content with high ionic conductivity, achieved stable operation over more than 1,000 cycles4,5.
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Sodium-ion batteries offer a resource-abundant alternative, with advances in manganese-rich layered oxide cathodes, ultra-microporous hard-carbon anodes and low-temperature electrolyte and interface engineering supporting grid-scale deployment and stable operation at –40 °C (refs. 8,9).
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References
He, R. et al. Two-layer graphite anode for energy and power densified LiFePO4 battery. Adv. Mater. 37, 2501185 (2025).
Qiu, B. et al. Negative thermal expansion and oxygen-redox electrochemistry. Nature 640, 941–946 (2025).
Sun, J. et al. Incorporating a lithium-deficient layer and interfacial-confined catalysis enables the reversible redox of surface oxygen species in lithium-rich manganese-based oxides. Energy Environ. Sci. 18, 4335–4347 (2025).
Liu, Y. et al. Double‐donor and anion‐π polymer electrolytes for fast Li+ conduction in lithium metal batteries. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 64, e202516098 (2025).
Gou, J. et al. An anisotropic strategy for developing polymer electrolytes endowing lithium metal batteries with electrochemo-mechanically stable interface. Nat. Commun. 16, 3626 (2025).
Zuo, W. et al. Gas-mediated defect engineering in earth-abundant Mn-rich layered oxides for non-aqueous sodium-based batteries. Nat. Nanotechnol. 20, 1667–1677 (2025).
Feng, X. et al. Critical role of ultra‐microporous tunnel structure within hard carbon in boosting sodium-ion storage. Adv. Mater. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202501779 (2025).
Cui, Y. et al. A temperature‐adapted ultraweakly solvating electrolyte for cold-resistant sodium‐ion batteries. Adv. Energy Mater. 15, 2405363 (2025).
Liu, C. et al. Tailored heterogeneous interphase layer promotes low-temperature desolvation toward durable sodium metal batteries. Adv. Mater. 37, 2507735 (2025).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 52394170, 52394171, 52525203, U24A2067, 52222210, U24A2064, 52472261 and U23A20579), the Liaoning Binhai Laboratory (grant no. LBLF-2023-03), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. XDA0400202), the Commanding heights of science and technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (LDES15 0000) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant no. WK9990000170 and YD2060002042).
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Yang, H., Rui, X. & Yu, Y. Advances in battery technologies for smart grids in 2025. Nat. Rev. Clean Technol. 2, 11–12 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44359-025-00134-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44359-025-00134-1
