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The growing interest in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) is driven by scarcity and the rising costs of lithium, coupled with the urgent need for scalable and sustainable energy storage solutions. Among various cathode materials, layered transition metal oxides have emerged as promising candidates due to their structural similarity to lithium-ion battery (LIB) counterparts and their potential to deliver high energy density at reduced costs. However, significant challenges remain, including limited capacity at high charge/discharge rates and structural instability during extended cycling. Addressing these issues is critical for advancing SIB technology toward industrial applications, particularly for large-scale energy storage systems. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of layered sodium transition metal oxides, focusing on their structural properties, electrochemical performance, and degradation mechanisms. Special attention is given to the intrinsic and extrinsic factors contributing to their instability, such as structural phase transitions, and cationic/anionic redox behavior. Additionally, recent advancements in material design strategies, including doping, surface modifications, and composite formation, are discussed to highlight the progress toward enhancing the stability and performance of these materials. This work aims to bridge the knowledge gaps and inspire further innovations in the development of high-performance cathodes for sodium-ion batteries. 

Ni-rich Li(NixCoyMnz)O2 (x ≥ 0.8)-layered oxide materials are highly promising as cathode materials for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries in electric and hybrid vehicles. However, their tendency to undergo side reactions with electrolytes and their structural instability during cyclic lithiation/delithiation impairs their electrochemical cycling performance, posing challenges for large-scale applications. This paper explores the application of an Al2O3 coating using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) system on Ni-enriched Li(Ni0.8Co0.1Mn0.1)O2 (NCM811) cathode material. Characterization techniques, including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, were used to assess the impact of alumina coating on the morphology and crystal structure of NCM811. The results confirmed that an ultrathin Al2O3 coating was achieved without altering the microstructure and lattice structure of NCM811. The alumina-coated NCM811 exhibited improved cycling stability and capacity retention in the voltage range of 2.8–4.5 V at a 1 C rate. Specifically, the capacity retention of the modified NCM811 was 5%, 9.11%, and 11.28% higher than the pristine material at operating voltages of 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5 V, respectively. This enhanced performance is attributed to reduced electrode–electrolyte interaction, leading to fewer side reactions and improved structural stability. Thus, NCM811@Al2O3 with this coating process emerges as a highly attractive candidate for high-capacity lithium-ion battery cathode materials. 

To address the alerting issue of energy demand, lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) have been widely studied as promising electrochemical energy storage devices, which can deliver higher energy density than supercapacitors (SCs), and have higher power density with longer cycling life than lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, the active material lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂(NCM523) is grown on a cotton textile template and building a 3-dimensional (3D) integrity to improve capacitance and energy density of LICs by enhancing the interfacial ion-exchange process. With the 3D structure, the specific discharge capacitance is increased to 718.67 $F{g}^{-1}$at 0.1 $A{g}^{-1}$from that of non-textile NCM523 (265.97 $F{g}^{-1}$), and remains a high capacitance of 254.48 $F{g}^{-1}$at 10 $A{g}^{-1}$in the half-cell capacitors. In addition, the energy density can achieve up to 36.17 $Whk{g}^{-1}$at the power density of 1,200 $Wk{g}^{-1}$in the full-cell capacitor. The textile NCM can maintain an energy density of 28.26 $Whk{g}^{-1}$at the current density of 10 $A{g}^{-1}$and power density of 6,000 $Wk{g}^{-1}$. Our results present promising applications of electrodes with the 3D porous structure for high energy density LICs. 

Nowadays, lithium-ion batteries are undoubtedly known as the most promising rechargeable batteries. However, these batteries face some big challenges, like not having enough energy and not lasting long enough, that should be addressed. Ternary Ni-rich Li[NixCoyMnz]O2 and Li[NixCoyAlz]O2 cathode materials stand as the ideal candidate for a cathode active material to achieve high capacity and energy density, low manufacturing cost, and high operating voltage. However, capacity gain from Ni enrichment is nullified by the concurrent fast capacity fading because of issues such as gas evolution, microcracks propagation and pulverization, phase transition, electrolyte decomposition, cation mixing, and dissolution of transition metals at high operating voltage, which hinders their commercialization. In order to tackle these problems, researchers conducted many strategies, including elemental doping, surface coating, and particle engineering. This review paper mainly talks about origins of problems and their mechanisms leading to electrochemical performance deterioration for Ni-rich cathode materials and modification approaches to address the problems.