2022, Xu, Fei, Qu, Changzhen, Lu, Qiongqiong, Meng, Jiashen, Zhang, Xiuhai, Xu, Xiaosa, Qiu, Yuqian, Ding, Baichuan, Yang, Jiaying, Cao, Fengren, Yang, Penghui, Jiang, Guangshen, Kaskel, Stefan, Ma, Jingyuan, Li, Liang, Zhang, Xingcai, Wang, Hongqiang

Constructing robust nucleation sites with an ultrafine size in a confined environment is essential toward simultaneously achieving superior utilization, high capacity, and long-term durability in Na metal-based energy storage, yet remains largely unexplored. Here, we report a previously unexplored design of spatially confined atomic Sn in hollow carbon spheres for homogeneous nucleation and dendrite-free growth. The designed architecture maximizes Sn utilization, prevents agglomeration, mitigates volume variation, and allows complete alloying-dealloying with high-affinity Sn as persistent nucleation sites, contrary to conventional spatially exposed large-size ones without dealloying. Thus, conformal deposition is achieved, rendering an exceptional capacity of 16 mAh cm−2 in half-cells and long cycling over 7000 hours in symmetric cells. Moreover, the well-known paradox is surmounted, delivering record-high Na utilization (e.g., 85%) and large capacity (e.g., 8 mAh cm−2) while maintaining extraordinary durability over 5000 hours, representing an important breakthrough for stabilizing Na anode.