Authors
Guangwan Zhang, Yanjiao Teng, Kang Han, Shuhan Jin, Wenli Shu, Zhenhang Zhong, Kai Luo, Lianmeng Cui, Jianwei Li, Ruohan Yu, Jiashen Meng, Fang Liu, Meng Huang, Xuanpeng Wang, Seeram Ramakrishna
Published in
Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany). Pages e74912. Jul 28, 2026. Epub Jul 28, 2026.
Abstract
Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are promising for large-scale energy storage owing to abundant potassium resources. However, their development is constrained by the lack of high-capacity and durable anodes capable of accommodating the large-radius K+. Herein, a small-molecule organic compound, 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid (BDA), is presented as a promising anode for PIBs. The cooperative multielectron redox activity of the carbonyl and imine moieties affords a high reversible capacity, while the conjugated framework and dense molecular packing strengthen the structural stability. Consequently, BDA delivers a specific capacity of 398 mAh g-1 at 100 mA g-1 and retains 186 mAh g-1 after 1000 cycles at 1000 mA g-1. Combined in situ/ex situ characterizations and theoretical calculations reveal that pristine BDA undergoes an irreversible deprotonation/potassiation during the initial discharge, generating an activated K2BDA phase. The subsequent reversible K-storage is dominated by the carbonyl and imine sites, and involves only minor lattice variation, which accounts for the low volume fluctuation and outstanding cycling stability. In addition, an all-organic PIB assembled with a pre-potassiated BDA anode and a PTCDA cathode delivers a high energy density of 174 Wh kg-1 (based on the mass of both electrodes). This study establishes a viable small-molecule organic anode for high-performance PIBs.
PMID:
42517262
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 28 Jul 2026.
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