A biography of potassium complexes as versatile, green energetic materials

Potassium-based energetic complexes are environmentally friendly compared to their traditional heavy metal counterparts. They also have higher energy densities and better thermal stabilities than the parent organic compounds due to the deprotonation and introduction of the potassium cation. According to the anion ligands, they can be classified as nitrophenol-, furazan-, furoxan-, triazole-, tetrazole-, and their derivative-based potassium complexes. More than 20 potassium complexes have been prepared, with their crystal structures analyzed and properties characterized, demonstrating their superiority to traditional energetic materials. Multi-coordinated potassium cations facilitate the formation of energetic three-dimensional metal-organic frameworks, making them better candidates as energetic materials for both defense and civil applications.