Chemistry

Materials science

Lithium-ion battery

Graphite

Engineering

Composite material

Power (physics)

Lithium (medication)

Physics

Electrode

Energy storage

Organic chemistry

Endocrinology

Electrolyte

Battery (electricity)

Chemical engineering

Physical chemistry

Medicine

Thermodynamics

Nature Communications

Graphite dual-ion batteries represent a potential battery concept for large-scale stationary storage of electricity, especially when constructed free of lithium and other chemical elements with limited natural reserves. Owing to their non-rocking-chair operation mechanism, however, the practical deployment of graphite dual-ion batteries is inherently limited by the need for large quantities of electrolyte solutions as reservoirs of all ions that are needed for complete charge and discharge of the electrodes. Thus far, lithium-free graphite dual-ion batteries have employed moderately concentrated electrolyte solutions (0.3-1 M), resulting in rather low cell-level energy densities of 20-70 Wh kg-1. In this work, we present a lithium-free graphite dual-ion battery utilizing a highly concentrated electrolyte solution of 5 M potassium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide in alkyl carbonates. The resultant battery offers an energy density of 207 Wh kg-1, along with a high energy efficiency of 89% and an average discharge voltage of 4.7 V.

High-energy-density dual-ion battery for stationary storage of electricity using concentrated potassium fluorosulfonylimide