Abstract
The development of sodium‐ion batteries has drawn lots of attention recently due to the low‐cost and eco‐friendly sodium source. However, a fundamental understanding of the sodiation behavior for commonly used electrode materials is still limited. Here, combining in situ transmission electron microscopy, aberration‐corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, and ex situ battery cycling tests, the lithiation and sodiation behavior of ZnO nanowires is investigated. The findings show a direct correlation between the mechanical behavior of the lithiated/sodiated ZnO nanowires and their electrochemical cyclability. The mechanical brittleness of LiZn and the formation of nanocracks lead to the poor cyclability of Li‐ion batteries with a ZnO anode. However, the sodiated ZnO nanowires show profuse dislocation plasticity. The observed high‐density dislocations offer the sodiated ZnO anode more ductility and subsequently better cyclability than its Li‐ion counterpart. The results reveal the importance of understanding the correlation between mechanical properties of battery electrodes and their cycling abilities.
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