Issue 29, 2018

Concentrated electrolytes stabilize bismuth–potassium batteries

Abstract

Storing as many as three K-ions per atom, bismuth is a promising anode material for rechargeable potassium-ion batteries that may replace lithium-ion batteries for large-scale electrical energy storage. However, Bi suffers from poor electrochemical cyclability in conventional electrolytes. Here, we demonstrate that a 5 molar (M) ether-based electrolyte, versus the typical 1 M electrolyte, can effectively passivate the bismuth surface due to elevated reduction resistance. This protection allows a bismuth–carbon anode to simultaneously achieve high specific capacity, electrochemical cyclability and Coulombic efficiency, as well as small potential hysteresis and improved rate capability. We show that at a high electrolyte concentration, the bismuth anode demonstrates excellent cyclability over 600 cycles with 85% capacity retention and an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.35% at 200 mA g−1. This “concentrated electrolyte” approach provides unexpected new insights to guide the development of long-cycle-life and high-safety potassium-ion batteries.

Graphical abstract: Concentrated electrolytes stabilize bismuth–potassium batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
23 Apr 2018
Accepted
16 Jun 2018
First published
18 Jun 2018
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 6193-6198

Concentrated electrolytes stabilize bismuth–potassium batteries

R. Zhang, J. Bao, Y. Wang and C. Sun, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 6193 DOI: 10.1039/C8SC01848K

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