Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are critical to combatting global warming. However, their intermittent energy generation requires the development of large-scale grid energy storage, in contrast to the on-demand generation of coal-based powerplants. Sodium-ion batteries offer a promising potential technology due to their similarity to the more mature lithium-ion battery chemistry and the higher abundance and lower sodium cost compared to lithium. Because sodium ions are larger than lithium ions, sodium-ion intercalation results in more drastic structural rearrangements. Of crucial importance to the development of sodium-ion batteries is an improved understanding of structural dynamics and ionic diffusion pathways. This research aims to improve the state of this understanding by tuning an existing thin-film model system to incorporate c-axis growth to form inclined NaxCoO2 epitaxial thin films that can be used for future interface studies, and ionic transport imaging.