Bifunctional Alloy/Solid-Electrolyte Interphase Layer for Enhanced Potassium Metal Batteries Via

Potassium (K) metal batteries have attracted great attention owing to their low price, widespread distribution, and comparable energy density. However, the arbitrary dendrite growth and side reactions of K metal are attributed to high environmental sensitivity, which is the Achilles' heel of its commercial development. Interface engineering between the current collector and K metal can tailor the surface properties for K-ion flux accommodation, dendrite growth inhibition, parasitic reaction suppression, etc. We have designed bifunctional layers via prepassivation, which can be recognized as an O/F-rich Sn-K alloy and a preformed solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer. This Sn-K alloy with high substrate-related binding energy and Fermi level demonstrates strong potassiophilicity to homogeneously guide K metal deposition. Simultaneously, the preformed SEI layer can effectually eliminate side reactions initially, which is beneficial for the spatially and temporally KF-rich SEI layer on K metal. K metal deposition and protection can be implemented by the bifunctional layers, delivering great performance with a low nucleation overpotential of 0.066 V, a high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.1%, and durable stability of more than 900 h (1 mA cm-2, 1 mAh cm-2). Furthermore, the high-voltage platform, energy, and power densities of K metal batteries can be realized with a conventional Prussian blue analogue cathode. This work provides a paradigm to passivate fragile interfaces for alkali metal anodes.

Automated summary

Potassium (K) metal batteries have potential for commercial development, but the arbitrary dendrite growth and side reactions of K metal hinder their progress. Interface engineering between the current collector and K metal can improve the performance by guiding K metal deposition and suppressing side reactions. A bifunctional layer with an O/F-rich Sn-K alloy and a preformed solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer has been designed to achieve this. The bifunctional layers enable low nucleation overpotential, high Coulombic efficiency, and stable operation of K metal batteries.