Recent Progress in Electrolyte Development and Design Strategies for Next‐Generation Potassium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

Rechargeable lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) have attained tremendous success and are extensively used in a wide range of fields. However, due to the scarcity and uneven geographical distribution of Li resources, its price is steadily increasing, which may limit its sustainable application in the near future. Potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs) are promising alternatives to LIBs owing to the earth abundance, low cost, and eco‐friendliness of potassium, and high energy density of PIBs. Although the field of PIBs has seen significant progress in the recent years, some challenges remain that limit their application, such as the severe side reactions between the electrolyte and electrodes, which result in an unstable solid electrolyte interphase, and thus, a low coulombic efficiency. Hence, designing suitable electrolytes is necessary for the development of PIBs. This review summarises the current developments in PIB electrolytes and comprehensively discusses electrolyte design strategies for four major classes of electrolytes, namely non‐aqueous, aqueous, ionic liquid, and solid‐state electrolytes. In addition, the effects of the properties of each class of electrolyte are discussed in detail. Furthermore, ionic liquid electrolytes, an emerging class of electrolytes, are discussed in detail with respect to PIBs. Finally, several critical issues, challenges, and prospects of PIB electrolytes are discussed, and an outlook for the future research direction of PIBs is presented.

Cardanol-Derived Epoxy Resins as Biobased Gel Polymer Electrolytes for Potassium-Ion Conduction

“…Overall, the ionic conductivity of the SAn sample compares well with those typically found in the literature for GPEs used in KIBs and appears to be amongst the highest encountered in the field for biobased quasi-solid polymer electrolytes. 49 Indeed, the cardanol-based electrolyte ionic conductivity at room temperature (10 –3 S cm –1 ) exceeds by one order of magnitude the values usually obtained for relevant quasi solid-state electrolytes previously published in the literature. This is valid also for the well-established PEO-based matrices.…”

Growth Mechanism of Micro/Nano Metal Dendrites and Cumulative Strategies for Countering Its Impacts in Metal Ion Batteries: A Review

“…Using high concentrations of KFSI-DME, ~99.3% of coulombic efficiency and charge preservation above 80% were achieved beyond 99 cycles. The authors reported that a high concentration of DME-KFSI enabled the restriction of the oxidation reaction, leading to corrosion and dendrite formation [446]. This restriction occurs because DME and K + ions are closely bonded in a highly concentrated electrolyte solution, where the HOMO level will be reduced, mitigating oxidative decomposition reactions.…”

Lignin as Polymer Electrolyte Precursor for Stable and Sustainable Potassium Batteries

“…The current growth in the exploitation of renewable energy sources increases the need for efficient energy storage systems, in particular electrochemical devices such as batteries [1–5] . At present, lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs), working through the rocking chair mechanism, dominate the market of electrochemical energy storage devices, owing to their superior energy/weight ratio, long cycle life and fast charge‐discharge processes [6–10] .…”