Cross‐Scale Self‐Supporting Carbon Anode for Fast and Reversible Potassium Storage at Low Voltage

ABSTRACT The trade‐off between low‐voltage activity and reversibility remains a central obstacle to achieving high‐performance carbon anodes in potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs). Here, we employ a cross‐scale structural modulation strategy in a flexible, self‐supporting hard carbon (SSHC) anode to realize fast and reversible potassium storage at low voltages. The SSHC consists of microscale carbon fibers (∼9 µm in diameter) that form a binder‐ and additive‐free framework, thereby limits surface side reactions, together with nanoscale stacked nanographtic layers (d 002 = 0.367 nm) that provide enlarged K + diffusion channels and stabilize low‐voltage insertion. Benefiting from this cross‐scale architecture, SSHC‐1100 electrode delivers 236.8 mAh g −1 at 30 mA g −1 , with 179.9 mAh g −1 below 0.5 V, outperforming graphite electrode (216 mAh g −1 in total, 150.4 mAh g −1 below 0.5 V). Despite its large specific surface area of 642.4 m 2 g −1 , the binder‐free self‐supporting fiber framework effectively suppresses irreversible side reactions and affords a high initial coulombic efficiency of 76.3%, higher than that of graphite (73.8%). These results indicate that coupling a microscale self‐supporting architecture with nanoscale diffusion pathways is a practical route to simultaneously achieve low‐voltage capacity and reversibility, and provide guidance for the design of advanced PIB anodes.

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Small
Published
2026-06-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.74221
Primary Topic
Advancements in Battery Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Cross‐Scale Self‐Supporting Carbon Anode for Fast and Reversible Potassium Storage at Low Voltage

Yaxin Chen, Peng Jin, Liluo Shi, Zhipeng Cao et al.
Small
Advancements in Battery Materials
article

Cross‐Scale Self‐Supporting Carbon Anode for Fast and Reversible Potassium Storage at Low Voltage

Yaxin Chen, Peng Jin, Liluo Shi, Zhipeng Cao, Ming Song, Wenchang Zhuang, Zhouqing Xue, Yan Xu, Limei Sun, Yuhai Zhao
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The trade‐off between low‐voltage activity and reversibility remains a central obstacle to achieving high‐performance carbon anodes in potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs). Here, we employ a cross‐scale structural modulation strategy in a flexible, self‐supporting hard carbon (SSHC) anode to realize fast and reversible potassium storage at low voltages. The SSHC consists of microscale carbon fibers (∼9 µm in diameter) that form a binder‐ and additive‐free framework, thereby limits surface side reactions, together with nanoscale stacked nanographtic layers (d 002 = 0.367 nm) that provide enlarged K + diffusion channels and stabilize low‐voltage insertion. Benefiting from this cross‐scale architecture, SSHC‐1100 electrode delivers 236.8 mAh g −1 at 30 mA g −1 , with 179.9 mAh g −1 below 0.5 V, outperforming graphite electrode (216 mAh g −1 in total, 150.4 mAh g −1 below 0.5 V). Despite its large specific surface area of 642.4 m 2 g −1 , the binder‐free self‐supporting fiber framework effectively suppresses irreversible side reactions and affords a high initial coulombic efficiency of 76.3%, higher than that of graphite (73.8%). These results indicate that coupling a microscale self‐supporting architecture with nanoscale diffusion pathways is a practical route to simultaneously achieve low‐voltage capacity and reversibility, and provide guidance for the design of advanced PIB anodes.

Small
Xuzhou University of Technology (CN), China University of Mining and Technology (CN), RE Hydrogen (United Kingdom) (GB)
Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Advancements in Battery Materials
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