ABSTRACT
Recently, LIBs applications have move to grid-scale and automobile from simple portable electronic; the lead to the tremendous increase in the cost of lithium-based materials. The development of LIBs, consequently, depended upon the market price of lithium resources. Thus, replacing the LIBs with cost-effective and abundant alternatives could lead the batteries’ future less susceptible to price variations when the market expands. These concerns and huge demands have directed the investigation on sodium ion batteries (SIBs). The notable advantages of sodium over lithium are its abundance (nearly inexhaustible), and its uniform distribution around the globe having a Clarke’s number of 2.644 (measure of material’s abundance), which makes the sodium-based materials more economical and thus could meet the increasing energy demands in the future. However, by taking their energy density and durability into consideration, the SIBs are not yet up to the LIBs. In order to address these drawbacks, new high performing and stable cathode/anode materials needs to be investigated. Therefore, to explore and exploit new materials, first a thorough understanding of the key components and the fundamental electrochemical mechanism which governs the storage property needs to be unravelled. The objective of this chapter is to understand the underlying charge storage mechanism in the SIBs.
