Dual Sn-Zn Atomic Decorated Hierarchy Carbon Meta-Material: Enabling High-Rate and Low-Temperature Anode-Less Na Metal Batteries

Sodium metal batteries (SMBs) are regarded as promising candidates for next-generation energy storage technologies due to their high energy density and low cost yet remain challenging owing to dendritic sodium deposition, unstable electrode–electrolyte interfaces, and sluggish ion transport, particularly under fast-charging conditions or at low operating temperatures. To address these challenges, in this study, we introduce Sn-Zn atomic configured porous, nitrogen-rich carbon-based meta-material (SA-NCS), derived from a guanine-based hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HOF), serving as sodium host material for SMBs, which provides a high density of atomic sodiophilic sites to promote the transition from one-dimensional dendritic deposition to two-dimensional planar-oriented dense plating, and features programmable nano-to-macro functional structures capable of effectively accommodating the anodic volume fluctuation induced by sodium plating and stripping. SA-NCS@Cu current collector exhibits an ultralow nucleation overpotential of 22 mV even at a high current density of 20 mA cm −2 and delivers exceptional cycling stability, enabling stable operation for 2000 h at 10 mA cm −2 with Coulombic efficiencies exceeding 99.9%. Moreover, the SA-NCS @Cu current collector based anode-less sodium metal batteries demonstrate a superior fast-charging capability and long-term cycling stability at −20°C. This study presents a practical design for sodium hosts, enabling high-performance SMBs.