Ultrathin potassiophilic carbon skin design achieving ultra-stable potassium metal anodes

Abstract

Due to the complex fabrication process and poor reversibility of potassium (K) metal, developing high-performance host materials for K metal anodes remains a significant challenge. In this work, an ultrathin and dense N-doped carbon layer was uniformly loaded onto carbon fibers (N-CF) as a host for K metal anodes. This design effectively regulates the intrinsic adsorption behavior of metallic K, mitigating the effects of local uneven electric fields in the electrolyte and enabling stable cycling performance at high current densities. We found that the N functional groups synergistically constructed a robust potassiophilic surface, facilitating spontaneous and rapid integration with molten K. This process effectively suppresses dendrite growth and ensures stable cycling of the K metal anode, even at ultra-high current densities. Thus, the symmetric cell with the N-CF host exhibited remarkable cycling stability, maintaining stable cycling performance over 4300 h at 0.5 mA cm⁻²/0.5 mA h cm⁻². Furthermore, the anode demonstrated a low polarization voltage and exceptional stability even at 9 mA cm⁻², underscoring its superior dendrite inhibition capability. Ultimately, the outstanding stability of the N-CF@K metal anode enabled impressive performance in full-cell testing with a Prussian blue cathode. After 300 cycles, the full cell retained a high specific capacity of 91 mA h g⁻¹ and a capacity retention of 91.8% at 500 mA g⁻¹. We believe that our work offers a novel chance to design an advanced host for achieving stable K metal anode performance at ultra-high current densities.