Thermal Induced Conversion of CoFe Prussian Blue Analogs Nanocubes Wrapped by Doped Carbon Network Exhibiting Fast and Stable Potassium Ion Storage as Anode

Abstract

Prussian blue analogs (PBAs) show great promise as anode materials for potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs) due to their high specific capacity. However, PBAs still suffer from the drawbacks of low electronic conductivity and poor structural stability, leading to inadequate rate and cyclic performance. To address these limitations, CoFe PBA nanocubes wrapped with N/S doped carbon network (CoFe PBA@NSC) as anode for PIBs is designed by using thermal‐induced in situ conversion strategy. As expected, the structural advantages of nanosized PBA cubes, such as abundant interfaces and large surface area, enable the CoFe PBA@NSC electrode to demonstrate superior rate properties (557 and 131 mAh g−1 at 0.05 and 10 A g−1) and low capacity degradation (0.093% per cycle over 1000 cycles at 0.5 A g−1). Furthermore, several ex situ characterizations revealed the K‐ion storage mechanism. Fe+ and Co0 are generated during potassicization, followed by a completely reversible chemical state of iron while some cobalt monomers remained during depotassication. Additionally, the as‐built potassium‐ion hybrid capacitor based on CoFe PBA@NSC anode exhibits a high energy density of 118 Wh kg−1. This work presents an alternative but promising synthesis route for Prussian blue analogs, which is significant for the advancement of PIBs and other related energy storage devices.