Anode-Free Sodium Battery Milestone | Xibei Power Collaborates with Beihang University to Publish Major Research Findings in Advanced Materials: 3,800 Cycles! Dead Sodium Revival Rewrites Cycling Record

In August 2026, Beijing Xibei Power Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xibei Power"), in collaboration with Professor Wang Hua's team at Beihang University, reported another major breakthrough. Based on the Electrochemical Interface Reconstruction (EIR) strategy, the team achieved efficient revival of "dead sodium" in anode-free sodium batteries, pushing the cycle life of ampere-hour-level anode-free pouch cells to 3,800 cycles—a new world record in this field. The findings were published in Advanced Materials (IF=27.4), a top-tier journal in the field of materials science. This marks another milestone in the deep industry-academia-research integration between Xibei Power and leading domestic research institutions, further demonstrating the company's core R&D strength and industrial leadership in anode-free sodium-ion battery technology.

Anode-free sodium batteries, with the dual advantages of high energy density and low cost, are regarded as one of the core directions for next-generation energy storage technology. However, during cycling, metallic sodium continuously reacts with the electrolyte to form a passivation film, encapsulating sodium particles into inactive "dead sodium," resulting in irreversible consumption of the sodium source and rapid capacity decay. Previously, the cycle life of ampere-hour-level pouch cells was generally less than 1,000 cycles, which became a core obstacle to practical application. Past research mostly focused on "suppressing dead sodium formation," but failed to eliminate the problem at its root. The team broke away from conventional thinking, shifting from "passive prevention" to "active revival," and fully opened up the technical pathway for dead sodium reuse. This study innovatively proposes the Electrochemical Interface Reconstruction (EIR) strategy, which achieves two core functions through a customized over-discharge protocol: 1) Selective dissolution of the passivation film: the specific charge-discharge protocol can selectively dissolve the passivation layer encapsulating dead sodium, exposing the trapped active metallic sodium within, allowing it to re-establish electrical contact and be smoothly stripped, directly achieving capacity "recovery"; 2) In-situ reconstruction of a stable interface: an ultra-thin, uniform, NaF-rich highly stable protective film is generated in situ, laying a solid foundation for long-term stable cycling. In practical pouch cell validation, this strategy demonstrated remarkable improvements in cycling stability, comprehensively resetting the performance ceiling of anode-free sodium batteries: 1) 1.5Ah pouch cells: after 3,800 cycles at a high rate of 2C, the capacity retention remained as high as 83.5%, with cycle life improved by 343% compared to the best previously reported results in the literature—more than triple the previous record; 2) 5Ah high-energy-density pouch cells: achieving an energy density of 181.1 Wh·kg⁻¹, with capacity retention of 93.7% after 2,500 cycles at a 1C rate, demonstrating cycling stability comparable to mainstream commercial lithium iron phosphate batteries. Furthermore, this strategy is compatible with a variety of electrolyte and cathode material systems, offering strong universality, and can be implemented without major modifications to existing production lines. Xibei Power is advancing both theoretical research and product industrialization in parallel. The company will continue to increase R&D investment and deepen collaborative research with the Beihang University technical team. Leveraging their respective deep expertise in cutting-edge sodium battery technology, and with continuous technological upgrades, the company aims to drive anode-free sodium-ion batteries toward higher energy density, longer cycle life, and broader application scenarios, accelerating the large-scale deployment and adoption of sodium-ion batteries in energy storage, power, and other fields.

Source: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.74820