The event of sturdy, high-capacity electrode supplies stays a essential problem in battery analysis. On the time of our research (2015–2016), standard anodes usually exhibited a trade-off between excessive preliminary capability and poor biking stability. Our Nanoscale Horizons article in 2016 (D.-H. Liu, H.-Y. Lü, X.-L. Wu, J. Wang, X. Yan, J.-P. Zhang, H. Geng, Y. Zhang and Q. Yan, Nanoscale Horiz., 2016, 1(6), 496–501, https://doi.org/10.1039/C6NH00150E) found that manganese oxide (MnO), when embedded in a conductive matrix, unexpectedly demonstrated capability enhancement with repeated biking. By integrating this with volume-expanding silicon right into a hierarchical core–shell Si@MnO construction, encased in diminished graphene oxide, we achieved long-term biking stability with good capacities and excessive present densities. This breakthrough launched a brand new paradigm in composite electrode design. Our work not solely led to in depth citations throughout sodium- and zinc-ion battery programs but in addition influenced additional research on supplies like FeS–ZnS, VOx, and SnPS3. Reflecting on this journey, we acknowledge that trendy in situ/operando strategies and AI-guided materials screening might have additional accelerated optimization. At present, as multivalent and beyond-Li battery applied sciences advance, the foundational concepts of dynamic capability pairing and structural synergy proceed to tell next-generation electrode innovation.
