Electrolyte Regulation for Non-Graphitic Carbon to Achieve Stable Long-Cycling K-Storage

Potassium-ion batteries have been considered as a promising next-generation energy storage system due to low cost but comparable energy density to lithium-ion batteries. However, carbon-based anode materials usually delivered unsatisfactory K-storage capacity as well as long-cycling performance due to poor matching with common electrolytes, thus forming an unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Herein, a robust KF-rich SEI can be achieved on the as-prepared non-graphitic carbon surface by regulating the electrolyte solvation structures, which can significantly suppress redox reaction of solvents and ensure highly reversible K⁺ intercalation/deintercalation. As a result, the as-synthesized non-graphitic carbon anode predictably exhibits super long-cycling performance with about 200 mA h/g at 100 mA/g for 1000 cycles and a stable capacity of 135 mA h/g at 500 mA/g for 2000 cycles with negligible capacity decay in the optimized 3 M KFSI/DME electrolyte. This work provides deep insights into further development and improvement of advanced electrolyte systems for next generation energy storage devices.