Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have emerged as the most direct route to developing more cost effective and more sustainably produced metal-ion batteries due to their similarity in chemistry to Lithium ion batteries LIBs and the 1000× greater natural abundance of sodium in comparison to lithium.

A carbon nucleation layer to enable highly efficient and stable sodium plating and stripping as the basis for a new approach for sodium batteries: the anode-free sodium battery. The exceptional energy density of ∼400 Wh/kg and versatility of this approach that builds upon naturally abundant low-cost materials and aqueous processing is the first demonstration that sodium batteries have the promise of outperforming LIB technology and filling the desperately needed demand for a cost-effect, high-performance battery for grid-scale storage.