Ultra-thick, dense dual-encapsulated Sb anode architecture with conductively elastic networks promises potassium-ion batteries with high areal and volumetric capacities
Zhonggang Liu,
Xi Liu,
Bingchun Wang,
Xinying Wang,
Dongzhen Lu,
Dijun Shen,
Zhefei Sun,
Yongchang Liu,
Wenli Zhang,
Qiaobao Zhang,
Yunyong Li
Affiliations
Zhonggang Liu
School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Xi Liu
School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Bingchun Wang
School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Xinying Wang
School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Dongzhen Lu
School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Dijun Shen
School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Zhefei Sun
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China
Yongchang Liu
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Materials and Technology, State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Wenli Zhang
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Biorefinery, School of Chemical Engineering and Light Industry, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Qiaobao Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China; Corresponding authors.
Yunyong Li
School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China; Corresponding authors.
Ultra-thick, dense alloy-type anodes are promising for achieving large areal and volumetric performance in potassium-ion batteries (PIBs), but severe volume expansion as well as sluggish ion and electron diffusion kinetics heavily impede their widespread application. Herein, we design highly dense (3.1 g cm−3) Ti3C2Tx MXene and graphene dual-encapsulated nano-Sb monolith architectures (HD-Sb@Ti3C2Tx-G) with high-conductivity elastic networks (1560 S m−1) and compact dually encapsulated structures, which exhibit a large volumetric capacity of 1780.2 mAh cm−3 (gravimetric capacity: 565.0 mAh g−1), a long-term stable lifespan of 500 cycles with 82% retention, and a large areal capacity of 8.6 mAh cm−2 (loading: 31 mg cm−2) in PIBs. Using ex-situ SEM, in-situ TEM, kinetic investigations, and theoretical calculations, we reveal that the excellent areal and volumetric performance mechanism stems from the three dimensional (3D) high-conductivity elastic networks and the dual-encapsulated Sb architecture of Ti3C2Tx and graphene; these effectively mitigate against volume expansion and the pulverization of Sb, offering good electrolyte penetration and rapid ionic/electronic transmission. Ti3C2Tx also decreases the K+ diffusion energy barrier, and the ultra-thick compact electrode ensures volumetric and areal performance. These findings provide a feasible strategy for fabricating ultra-thick, dense alloy-type electrodes to achieve high areal and volumetric capacity energy storage via highly-dense, dual-encapsulated architectures with conductive elastic networks.
