Research progress on high-performance potassium ion battery anode materials in Shenzhen Advanced Institute

[ Instrument Network Instrument R & D ] March 18th, Photonic Information and Energy Materials Research Center of Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences made new progress in the research of new high-performance potassium ion battery anode materials: theory predicts styrene Materials are a very promising class of anode materials for potassium ion batteries. Based on a large number of calculation simulation data, it is pointed out that styrene materials have very high theoretical specific capacity and very small volume expansion when used as anode materials for potassium ion batteries. Related results were published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C (DOI: 10.1021 / acs.jpcc.) Under the title of [n] Phenacenes: Promising Organic Anodes for Potassium-Ion Batteries. 9b10930).

Because of its advantages in cost and environment, potassium-ion batteries are considered as one of the substitutes for lithium-ion batteries and have been widely studied; however, at the anode material side, because potassium has a larger ionic radius than lithium, it makes graphite commonly used. Negative electrode materials such as silicon, silicon, and micro-nanoporous materials, when the potassium is inserted, the negative electrode terminal swells too much, which causes the problem that the potassium storage capacity is too low.

In order to solve the above problems, Dr. Zhong Guohua of Shenzhen Advanced Institute and his collaborators proposed the idea of ​​using styrene as the anode material of potassium ion battery based on high-throughput calculation and first-principles material design. Researchers insert / extract potassium ions in porous or layered crystalline materials composed of styrene to study the entire static and dynamic process. A large number of data results indicate that the theoretical specific capacity of potassium ions embedded in styrenic materials can be as high as 700 mAh / g or more, and that the volume expansion rate of the material is less than 50% during the process of intercalation / desorption of potassium ions. In addition, the material also has better electrical conductivity and a smaller open-circuit voltage, which allows it to provide a larger voltage window. These data show that styrene has advantages over graphite and other materials in terms of potassium storage and safety, and is a very promising class of anode materials for potassium ion batteries.

This research was supported by the Shenzhen Basic Research Layout Project and the Peacock Project.