Large interspaced layered potassium niobate nanosheet arrays as an ultrastable anode for potassium ion capacitor

Potassium-ion battery (KIB) is a promising technology for large-scale energy storage applications due to their low cost, theoretically high energy density and abundant resources. However, the development of KIBs is hindered by the sluggish K+ transport kinetics and the structural instability of the electrode materials during K+ intercalation/de-intercalation. In the present investigation, we have designed a potassium-ion capacitor (KIC) using layered potassium niobate (K4Nb6O17, KNO) nanosheet arrays as anode and orange-peel derived activated carbons (OPAC) as fast capacitive cathode materials. The systematic electrochemical analysis with the ex-situ characterizations demonstrates that KNO-anode exhibits highly stable layered structure with excellent reversibility during K+ insertion/de-insertion. After optimization, the fabricated KNO//OPAC delivers both a high energy density of 116 Wh/kg and high power density of 10,808 W/kg, which is significantly higher than other similar hybrid devices. The cell also displays long term cycling stability over 5000 cycles, with 87 % of capacity retention. This study highlights the utilization of layered nanosheet arrays of niobates to achieve superior K‐storage for KICs, paving the way towards the development of high‐performance anodes for post lithium‐ion batteries.