Polyimide@Ketjenblack Composite: A Porous Organic Cathode for Fast Rechargeable Potassium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) configurated by organic electrodes have been identified as a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Here, a porous organic Polyimide@Ketjenblack is demonstrated in PIBs as a cathode, which exhibits excellent performance with a large reversible capacity (143 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1), high rate capability (125 and 105 mAh g−1 at 1000 and 5000 mA g−1), and long cycling stability (76% capacity retention at 2000 mA g−1 over 1000 cycles). The domination of fast capacitive-like reaction kinetics is verified, which benefits from the porous structure synthesized using in situ polymerization. Moreover, a renewable and low-cost full cell is demonstrated with superior rate behavior (106 mAh g−1 at 3200 mA g−1). This work proposes a strategy to design polymer electrodes for high-performance organic PIBs.