Advances in Na-Ion/K-Ion Batteries and Capacitors

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past 30 years, the commercialization and diverse utilization of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) have increasingly affected our daily demands. However, the scarcity and uneven supply of Li resources and the critical safety/cost issues related to LIB usage have inspired the development of K-ion and Na-ion batteries (KIBs and NIBs, respectively), which feature manufacturing technologies, operating chemistries, and redox reactions similar to those of LIBs while offering the benefits of resource abundance, safety, and relatively low cost. As a result, many researchers have focused on the optimization of electrode materials, electrolytes, and their interfaces to accelerate KIB/NIB commercialization.

In addition, supercapacitors, also known as electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), have been considered as important energy-storage devices owing to their high power density and long lifespans. However, the low energy density of EDLCs, which originates from their charge-storage mechanism of reversible surface adsorption of ions at the interface between carbon-based electrodes and electrolyte, restricts their promotion for many emerging purposes. Meanwhile, Li-ion hybrid capacitors (LHCs), which are composed of an LIB electrode and an EDLC electrode, have been investigated extensively to overcome the low energy density of EDLCs. LHCs exhibit dual charge-storage mechanisms such as intercalation–deintercalation of cations in the LIB electrode and surface adsorption of anions in the EDLC electrode, and, consequently, LHCs possess energy densities almost twice those of EDLCs. Recently, K-ion and Na-ion hybrid capacitors (KHCs and NHCs, respectively) have received significant consideration as promising replacements for LHCs.

This Special Issue invites original research articles, communications, perspectives, and comprehensive review papers on any types of next-generation KIBs, NIBs, KHCs, and NHCs, to expand the current knowledge of electrochemistry and charge storage mechanisms in these emerging energy storage devices. We also welcome state-of-the-art contributions on the development of innovative nanomaterials as either anode or cathode electrode materials for these energy storage devices. In particular, the topic of interest includes, but is not limited to, the following keywords:

• K-ion batteries
• Na-ion batteries
• K-ion capacitors
• Na-ion capacitors
• anodes
• cathodes
• solid–electrolyte interphase
• electrolytes
• nanomaterials
• simulations and DFT calculations

Dr. Masoud Nazarian-Samani
Guest Editor

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