The rising demand for portable and environmentally sustainable energy for use in the electronic/electrical equipment, automotive and so on has resulted in an ever-increasing development in the rechargeable metal-ion-battery technologies. The anode is a crucial component of the battery system, influencing both the cost and overall performance of the batteries. To optimize the electrochemical properties of anode materials, constructing the dual-phase structure has been identified as an effective strategy. The mutual buffering between phases helps alleviate dramatic volume changes, while the abundant interfaces increase active sites and enhance ion transport. In this review, the research and development of main anode materials with dual-phase configurations in Li/Mg ion batteries are summarized and discussed. The fabrication methods, regulation strategy, electrochemical performance as well as enhancement mechanisms of dual-phase Li₄Ti₅O₁₂-TiO₂ composites, TiO₂-based composites, alloy-type materials and other types of dual-phase anodes are reviewed and compared in detail. Moreover, some perspectives about the future progress of dual-phase anode materials for metal-ion batteries are proposed.

With the rapid development of electronics, electric vehicles, and grid energy storage stations, higher requirements have been put forward for advanced secondary batteries. Liquid metal/alloy electrodes have been considered as a promising development direction to achieve excellent electrochemical performance in metal-ion batteries, due to their specific advantages including the excellent electrode kinetics and self-healing ability against microstructural electrode damage. For conventional liquid batteries, high temperatures are needed to keep electrode liquid and ensure the high conductivity of molten salt electrolytes, which also brings the corrosion and safety issues. Ga-based metal/alloys, which can be operated at or near room temperature, are potential candidates to circumvent the above problems. In this review, the properties and advantages of Ga-based metal/alloys are summarized. Then, Ga-based liquid metal/alloys as anodes in various metal-ion batteries are reviewed in terms of their self-healing ability, battery configurations, working mechanisms, and so on. Furthermore, some views on the future development of Ga-based electrodes in batteries are provided.