Journal of Primeasia

Integrative Disciplinary Research | Online ISSN 3064-9870 | Print ISSN 3069-4353
570
Citations
221.2k
Views
147
Articles
Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better
Switch to the new experience
REVIEWS   (Open Access)

Potassium-Ion Batteries: Emerging Anode Materials and Strategies for High-Performance Energy Storage

Abstract 1. Introduction 2. Materials and Methods 3. Results 4. Discussion 5. Limitations 6. Conclusion References

Abbas Mohammed Sahib 1*

+ Author Affiliations

Journal of Primeasia 7 (1) 1-8 https://doi.org/10.25163/primeasia.7110783

Submitted: 14 January 2026 Revised: 06 March 2026  Accepted: 16 March 2026  Published: 18 March 2026 


Abstract

Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) have recently emerged as a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries due to the abundance, low cost, and comparable electrochemical properties of potassium. The development of high-performance anode and cathode materials is critical for realizing the full potential of PIBs. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizes the current advancements in PIB electrode materials, electrolyte formulations, and structural engineering strategies, highlighting their impact on energy density, cycling stability, and rate capability. Particular attention is given to carbonaceous materials, transition metal dichalcogenides (especially MoS2), and alloy-type anodes, which demonstrate diverse mechanisms such as intercalation, conversion, and alloying reactions. The review integrates quantitative performance metrics from multiple studies, providing comparative insights on reversible capacity, Coulombic efficiency, and capacity retention over extended cycling. Key findings suggest that hierarchical nanostructuring, heteroatom doping, and carbon composite formation significantly enhance potassium storage performance by mitigating volume expansion, improving conductivity, and stabilizing the solid electrolyte interphase. Moreover, electrolyte optimization, including potassium salts and solvent systems, plays a pivotal role in reducing side reactions and improving long-term stability. Despite substantial progress, challenges remain in balancing energy density with cycle life and safety, particularly for large-scale applications. This work offers a comprehensive evaluation of PIB materials and identifies critical directions for future research, emphasizing strategies to achieve high-performance, cost-effective, and sustainable potassium-ion batteries.Keywords: Potassium-ion batteries; Anode materials; MoS2; Carbon composites; Energy storage; Electrolyte optimization; Cycle stability

References

An, Y., Fei, H., Zeng, G., Ci, L., Xi, B., Xiong, S., & Feng, J. (2018). Commercial expanded graphite as a low-cost, long-cycling life anode for potassium-ion batteries with conventional carbonate electrolyte. Journal of Power Sources, 378, 66–72.

Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T., & Rothstein, H. R. (2009). Introduction to meta-analysis. Wiley.

Boz, B., Dev, T., Salvadori, A., & Schaefer, J. L. (2021). Electrolyte and electrode designs for enhanced ion transport properties to enable high performance lithium batteries. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 168, 090501.

Cao, X., Cheng, J., Zhang, X., Zhou, D., & Tong, Y. (2020). Composite polymer electrolyte based on liquid crystalline copolymer with high-temperature stability and bendability for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 15, 677–695.

Chen, C., Wang, Z., Zhang, B., Miao, L., Cai, J., Peng, L., Huang, Y., Jiang, J., Huang, Y., Zhang, L., et al. (2017). Nitrogen-rich hard carbon as a highly durable anode for high-power potassium-ion batteries. Energy Storage Materials, 8, 161–168.

Chen, G., Huang, J., Gu, J., Peng, S., Xiang, X., Chen, K., Yang, X., Guan, L., Jiang, X., & Hou, L. (2020). Highly tough supramolecular double network hydrogel electrolytes for an artificial flexible and low-temperature tolerant sensor. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 8, 6776–6784.

Cheng, J., Cao, X., Zhou, D., & Tong, Y. (2020). Preparation of SiO2 grafted polyimidazole solid electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries. Ionics, 26, 3883–3892.

Cohn, A. P., Muralidharan, N., Carter, R., Share, K., Oakes, L., & Pint, C. L. (2016). Durable potassium ion battery electrodes from high-rate cointercalation into graphitic carbons. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 4, 14954–14959.

Costa, C. M., Lizundia, E., & Lanceros-Méndez, S. (2020). Review—Polymers for advanced lithium-ion batteries: State of the art and future needs on polymers for the different battery components. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 79, 100846.

DerSimonian, R., & Laird, N. (1986). Meta-analysis in clinical trials. Controlled Clinical Trials, 7(3), 177–188.

Dubal, D. P., Schneemann, A., Ranc, V., Kment, Š., Tomanec, O., Petr, M., Kmentova, H., Otyepka, M., Zboril, R., Fischer, R. A., et al. (2021). Ultrafine TiO2 nanoparticle supported nitrogen-rich graphitic porous carbon as an efficient anode material for potassium-ion batteries. Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research, 2, 2100042.

Egger, M., Davey Smith, G., Schneider, M., & Minder, C. (1997). Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. BMJ, 315(7109), 629–634.

Eshetu, G. G., Elia, G. A., Armand, M., Forsyth, M., Komaba, S., Rojo, T., & Passerini, S. (2020). Electrolytes and interphases in sodium-based rechargeable batteries: Recent advances and perspectives. Advanced Energy Materials, 10, 2000093.

Fagiolari, L., Versaci, D., Di Berardino, F., Amici, J., Francia, C., Bodoardo, S., & Bella, F. (2022). An exploratory study of MoS2 as anode material for potassium batteries. Batteries, 8, 242.

Fan, L., Ma, R., Zhang, Q., Jia, X., & Lu, B. (2019). Graphite anode for a potassium-ion battery with unprecedented performance. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58, 10500–10505.

Gao, Y., Pan, Z., Sun, J., Liu, Z., & Wang, J. (2022). High-energy batteries: Beyond lithium-ion and their long road to commercialisation. Nano-Micro Letters, 14, 94.

González, F., Garcia-Calvo, O., Tiemblo, P., García, N., Fedeli, E., Thieu, T., Urdampilleta, I., & Kvasha, A. (2020). Synergy of inorganic fillers in composite thermoplastic polymer/ionic liquid/LiTFSI electrolytes. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 167, 070519.

Gu, M., Fu, H., Rao, A. M., Zhou, J., Lin, Y., Wen, S., Fan, L., & Lu, B. (2024). In situ construction of uniform and elastic solid–electrolyte interphase for high-performance potassium batteries. Advanced Functional Materials, 34, 2407867.

Higgins, J. P. T., Thomas, J., Chandler, J., Cumpston, M., Li, T., Page, M. J., & Welch, V. A. (2022). Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions (Version 6.3). Cochrane.

Higgins, J. P. T., Thompson, S. G., Deeks, J. J., & Altman, D. G. (2003). Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses. BMJ, 327(7414), 557–560.

Jian, Z. L., Luo, W., & Ji, X. L. (2015). Carbon electrodes for K-ion batteries. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137, 11566–11569.

Jian, Z., Xing, Z., Bommier, C., Li, Z., & Ji, X. (2016). Hard carbon microspheres: Potassium-ion anode versus sodium-ion anode. Advanced Energy Materials, 6, 1501874.

Komaba, S., Hasegawa, T., Dahbi, M., & Kubota, K. (2015). Potassium intercalation into graphite to realize high-voltage/high-power potassium-ion batteries and potassium-ion capacitors. Electrochemistry Communications, 60, 172–175.

Kou, Z., Liu, C., Miao, C., Mei, P., Yan, X., & Xiao, W. (2020). High-performance gel polymer electrolytes using P(VDF-HFP) doped with appropriate porous carbon powders as the matrix for lithium-ion batteries. Ionics, 26, 1729–1737.

Lei, H., Li, J., Zhang, X., Ma, L., Ji, Z., Wang, Z., Pan, L., Tan, S., & Mai, W. (2022). A review of hard carbon anode: Rational design and advanced characterization in potassium ion batteries. InfoMat, 4, e12272.

Li, L., Deng, Y., & Chen, G. (2020). Status and prospect of garnet/polymer solid composite electrolytes for all-solid-state lithium batteries. Journal of Energy Chemistry, 50, 154–177.

Li, Y., Yang, C., Zheng, F., Pan, Q., Liu, Y., Wang, G., Liu, T., Hu, J., & Liu, M. (2019). Design of TiO2-C hierarchical tubular heterostructures for high performance potassium ion batteries. Nano Energy, 59, 582–590.

Ling, L., Wang, X., Zhou, M., Wu, K., Lin, C., Younus, H. A., Zhang, M., Zhang, S., Cheng, F., & Zhang, Y. (2022). Carbon-coated flower-like TiO2 nanosphere as an ultrastable anode material for potassium-ion batteries: Structure design and mechanism study. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 5, 15586–15596.

Liu, F., Li, T., Yang, Y., Yan, J., Li, N., Xue, J., Huo, H., Zhou, J., & Li, L. (2020). Investigation on the copolymer electrolyte of poly(1,3-dioxolane-co-formaldehyde). Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 41, e2000047.

Liu, Q., Rao, A. M., Han, X., & Lu, B. (2021). Artificial SEI for superhigh-performance K-graphite anode. Advanced Science, 8, 2003639.

Liu, Y., Gao, C., Dai, L., Deng, Q., Wang, L., Luo, J., Liu, S., & Hu, N. (2020). The features and progress of electrolyte for potassium ion batteries. Small, 16, 2004096.

Liu, Y., Lu, Y., Xu, Y., Meng, Q., Gao, J., Sun, Y., Hu, Y., Chang, B., Liu, C., & Cao, A. (2020). Pitch-derived soft carbon as stable anode material for potassium ion batteries. Advanced Materials, 32, 2000505.

Long, J., Yang, Z., Yang, F., Cuan, J., & Wu, J. (2020). Electrospun core-shell Mn3O4/carbon fibers as high-performance cathode materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Electrochimica Acta, 344, 136155.

Lu, X., Liang, Z., Fang, Z., Zhang, D., Zheng, Y., Liu, Q., Fu, D., Teng, J., & Yang, W. (2024). Durable K-ion batteries with 100% capacity retention up to 40,000 cycles. Carbon Energy, 6, e390.

Mahmood, A., Li, S., Ali, Z., Tabassum, H., Zhu, B., Liang, Z., Meng, W., Aftab, W., Guo, W., & Zhang, H. (2019). Ultrafast sodium/potassium-ion intercalation into hierarchically porous thin carbon shells. Advanced Materials, 31, e1805430.

Meng, Y., Nie, C., Guo, W., Liu, D., Chen, Y., Ju, Z., & Zhuang, Q. (2022). Inorganic cathode materials for potassium ion batteries. Materials Today Energy, 25, 100982.

Nederstedt, H., & Jannasch, P. (2020). Poly(p-phenylene)s tethered with oligo(ethylene oxide): Synthesis by Yamamoto polymerization and properties as solid polymer electrolytes. Polymer Chemistry, 11, 2418–2429.

Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71

Rao, J., Wang, X., Yunis, R., Ranganathan, V., Howlett, P. C., MacFarlane, D. R., Forsyth, M., & Zhu, H. (2020). A novel proton conducting ionogel electrolyte based on poly(ionic liquids) and protic ionic liquid. Electrochimica Acta, 346, 136224.

Ren, X., Zhao, Q., McCulloch, W. D., & Wu, Y. (2017). MoS2 as a long-life host material for potassium ion intercalation. Nano Research, 10, 1313–1321.

Shi, M., Xiao, P., Yang, C., Sheng, Y., Wang, B., Jiang, J., Zhao, L., & Yan, C. J. (2020). Scalable gas-phase synthesis of 3D microflowers confining MnO2 nanowires for highly durable aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 463, 228209.

Tan, L., Chen, J., Wang, L., Li, N., Yang, Y., Chen, Y., Guo, L., Ji, X., & Zhu, Y. (2024). High-Coulombic-efficiency hard carbon anode material for practical potassium-ion batteries. Batteries & Supercaps, 7, e202400010.

Tyagi, A., & Puravankara, S. (2022). Insights into the diverse precursor-based micro-spherical hard carbons as anode materials for sodium-ion and potassium-ion batteries. Materials Advances, 3, 810–836.

Wang, J., Li, J., He, X., Zhang, X., Yan, B., Hou, X., Du, L., Placke, T., Winter, M., & Li, J. (2020). A three-dimensional TiO2-graphene architecture with superior Li ion and Na ion storage performance. Journal of Power Sources, 461, 228129.

Wang, Z., Liu, J., Zhang, J., Hao, S., Duan, X., Song, H., & Zhang, J. (2020). Novel chemically cross-linked chitosan-cellulose based ionogel with self-healability, high ionic conductivity, and high thermo-mechanical stability. Cellulose, 27, 5121–5133.

Xiang, X., Liu, D., Zhu, X., Fang, K., Zhou, K., Tang, H., Xie, Z., Li, J., Zheng, H., & Qu, D. (2020). Evaporation-induced formation of hollow bismuth@N-doped carbon nanorods for enhanced electrochemical potassium storage. Applied Surface Science, 514, 145947.

Xu, J., Dou, S., Cui, X., Liu, W., Zhang, Z., Deng, Y., Hu, W., & Chen, Y. (2021). Potassium-based electrochemical energy storage devices: Development status and future prospect. Energy Storage Materials, 34, 85–106.

Xu, Q., Li, Q., Guo, Y., Luo, D., Qian, J., Li, X., & Wang, Y. (2020). Multiscale hierarchically engineered carbon nanosheets derived from covalent organic framework for potassium-ion batteries. Small Methods, 4, 2000159.

Yang, X., Luo, J., & Sun, X. (2020). Towards high-performance solid-state Li–S batteries: From fundamental understanding to engineering design. Chemical Society Reviews, 49, 2140–2195.

Zaman, W., & Hatzell, K. B. (2022). Processing and manufacturing of next generation lithium-based all solid-state batteries. Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science, 26, 101003.

Zhang, D., Tan, C., Ou, T., Zhang, S., Li, L., & Ji, X. (2022). Constructing advanced electrode materials for low-temperature lithium-ion batteries: A review. Energy Reports, 8, 4525–4534.

Zhang, J., Cui, P., Gu, Y., Wu, D., Tao, S., Qian, B., Chu, W., & Song, L. (2019). Encapsulating carbon-coated MoS2 nanosheets within a nitrogen-doped graphene network for high-performance potassium-ion storage. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 6, 1901066.


Article metrics
View details
0
Downloads
0
Citations
14
Views

View Dimensions


View Plumx


View Altmetric



0
Save
0
Citation
14
View
0
Share