A Biosourced and Self‐Healable Polymer Electrolyte for Potassium Batteries

ABSTRACT Potassium‐ion batteries offer a cost‐effective and sustainable alternative to large‐scale energy storage, yet electrolyte design remains a critical bottleneck. Here, we introduce a UV‐cured gel‐polymer electrolyte (GPE) that exploits bio‐derived lignin microparticles as a key functional component (as a microfiller) in potassium batteries. Far beyond acting as a passive additive, the microsized lignin phase actively engineers the polymer network, suppressing crystallinity, unlocking high chain mobility, reinforcing mechanical integrity, and enabling fast and homogeneous K + transport. Combined with ureidopyrimidinone methacrylate, polycaprolactone diol di‐methacrylate, and polyethylene glycol, and plasticized by a potassium‐based liquid electrolyte, this architecture yields an ionic conductivity that surpasses conventional separators swollen with liquid electrolyte. The resulting GPE delivers 134 mAh·g −1 at 0.1 A·g −1 with 100% retention over 1000 cycles, and introduces the first self‐healing electrolyte ever reported for potassium batteries, maintaining 86% capacity after intentional membrane damage. By demonstrating that lignin microstructuring is a powerful and unexplored design lever for K‐ion electrolytes, this work opens new possible routes toward safe, high‐performance, and long‐lived potassium batteries for stationary applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
EcoEnergy
Published
2026-09-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece2.70133
Primary Topic
Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
Type
article
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article

A Biosourced and Self‐Healable Polymer Electrolyte for Potassium Batteries

Elisavet Tatsi, Federico Bella, Sabrina Trano, Giuseppe Pascuzzi et al.
EcoEnergy
Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
article

A Biosourced and Self‐Healable Polymer Electrolyte for Potassium Batteries

Elisavet Tatsi, Federico Bella, Sabrina Trano, Giuseppe Pascuzzi, Stefano Turri, Sara García-Ballesteros, Gianmarco Griffini
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Potassium‐ion batteries offer a cost‐effective and sustainable alternative to large‐scale energy storage, yet electrolyte design remains a critical bottleneck. Here, we introduce a UV‐cured gel‐polymer electrolyte (GPE) that exploits bio‐derived lignin microparticles as a key functional component (as a microfiller) in potassium batteries. Far beyond acting as a passive additive, the microsized lignin phase actively engineers the polymer network, suppressing crystallinity, unlocking high chain mobility, reinforcing mechanical integrity, and enabling fast and homogeneous K + transport. Combined with ureidopyrimidinone methacrylate, polycaprolactone diol di‐methacrylate, and polyethylene glycol, and plasticized by a potassium‐based liquid electrolyte, this architecture yields an ionic conductivity that surpasses conventional separators swollen with liquid electrolyte. The resulting GPE delivers 134 mAh·g −1 at 0.1 A·g −1 with 100% retention over 1000 cycles, and introduces the first self‐healing electrolyte ever reported for potassium batteries, maintaining 86% capacity after intentional membrane damage. By demonstrating that lignin microstructuring is a powerful and unexplored design lever for K‐ion electrolytes, this work opens new possible routes toward safe, high‐performance, and long‐lived potassium batteries for stationary applications.

EcoEnergy
Politecnico di Torino (IT), National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology (IT), Politecnico di Milano (IT)
Responsible consumption and production
Openalex Percentile: Top 21%
Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
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A Biosourced and Self‐Healable Polymer Electrolyte for Potassium Batteries — Elisavet Tatsi, Federico Bella, et al. · EcoEnergy (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS