Hiroki Yamamoto, Chih-Yao Chen, K. Kubota
Jun 29, 2020
Citations
0
Influential Citations
15
Citations
Journal
The journal of physical chemistry. B
Abstract
Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are a promising post-lithium-ion battery (LIB) as their resources are abundant and low-cost, and may have a higher voltage than LIBs. However, the high operating voltage and extremely high reactivity of potassium metal require a chemically safe electrolyte with oxidative and reductive stabilities. In this study, potassium single cation ionic liquid (K-SCIL), which contains only K+ as a cationic species and have high electrochemical stability, low flammability, and low vapor pressure, is developed as an electrolyte for PIBs. The mixture of potassium bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide (K[FSA]) and potassium (fluorosulfonyl)(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (K[FTA]) at a molar ratio of 55:45 had the lowest melting point of 67 ºC. The K+ concentration in this K-SCIL is high (8.5 mol dm-3 at 90 °C) due to the absence of solvents and bulky organic cations. In addition, the electrochemical window is as wide as 5.6 V, which enables the construction of PIBs with a high energy density. A high current density can be achieved with this K-SCIL owing to the absence of K+ concentration gradient. The electrolyte was successfully used with a graphite negative electrode, enabiling the reversible intercalation/deintercalation of K+, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction.