Non-Flammable Electrolytes for High Performance Batteries

In all battery systems, the electrolyte plays a vital role in determining the stability of the electrodes, as well as the safety of the battery users. Due to the frequently reported thermal runaway accidents in batteries, the key criteria for selecting the electrode materials for industrial production purposes must focus not only on providing high energy density, but also on their long-term stability and the safety of consumers. The potassium ion battery (PIB) has received much attention in battery research due to large earth abundance of potassium resources and its similar properties to lithium (LIBs) and sodium ion batteries (SIBs). It should be noted that the PIB has great potential to work at higher voltages and provides a higher energy density, because of the lower redox potential of K+ than Na+. Another important motivation for PIB research as opposed to SIB is the reversible intercalation of K atoms into graphite, as a high theoretical capacity of 279 mAh/g was discovered based on the generated compound KC8, demonstrating an encouraging prospect for commercialization of PIBs.