Dual-phase nanostructuring of layered metal oxides for high-performance aqueous rechargeable potassium ion microbatteries

Aqueous rechargeable microbatteries are promising on-chip micropower sources for a wide variety of miniaturized electronics. However, their development is plagued by state-of-the-art electrode materials due to low capacity and poor rate capability. Here we show that layered potassium vanadium oxides, K x V2O5·nH2O, have an amorphous/crystalline dual-phase nanostructure to show genuine potential as high-performance anode materials of aqueous rechargeable potassium-ion microbatteries. The dual-phase nanostructured K x V2O5·nH2O keeps large interlayer spacing while removing secondary-bound interlayer water to create sufficient channels and accommodation sites for hydrated potassium cations. This unique nanostructure facilitates accessibility/transport of guest hydrated potassium cations to significantly improve practical capacity and rate performance of the constituent K x V2O5·nH2O. The potassium-ion microbatteries with K x V2O5·nH2O anode and K x MnO2·nH2O cathode constructed on interdigital-patterned nanoporous metal current microcollectors exhibit ultrahigh energy density of 103 mWh cm−3 at electrical power comparable to carbon-based microsupercapacitors. Aqueous rechargeable microbatteries could enable new microelectronics, but their current electrode materials still suffer from low capacity and poor rate capability. Here the authors show that layered K x V2O5·nH2O with an amorphous/crystalline dual-phase nanostructure can address these issues.