Fluorinated Surface Engineering Towards High-Rate and Durable Potassium-Ion Battery

Solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) crucially affects the rate performance and cycling lifespan, yet to date more extensive research is still needed in potassium-ion batteries. We report an ultra-thin and KF-enriched SEI triggered by tuned fluorinated surface design in electrode. Our results reveal that fluorination engineering alters the interfacial chemical environment to facilitate inherited electronic conductivity, enhance adsorption ability of potassium, induce localized surface polarization to guide electrolyte decomposition behavior for SEI formation, and especially, enrich the KF crystals in SEI by self-sacrifice from C−F bond cleavage. Hence, the regulated fluorinated electrode with generated ultra-thin, uniform, and KF-enriched SEI shows improved capacity of 439.3 mAh g⁻¹ (3.82 mAh cm⁻²), boosted rate performance (202.3 mAh g⁻¹ at 8.70 mA cm⁻²) and durable cycling performance (even under high loading of ~8.7 mg cm⁻²). We expect this practical engineering principle to open up new opportunities for upgrading the development of potassium-ion batteries.