The paper "Phase-engineered cathode for super-stable potassium storage", co-authored by Dr. Cha Limei, head of the Electron Microscopy Centre (EMC) at the Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT), was recently published in Nature Communications and was then highlighted by the journal. This research offers promising perspectives electrode materials used in rechargeable alkali batteries.

Nature Communications is an open-access, multidisciplinary journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research in all areas of the biological, health, physical, chemical, Earth, social, mathematical, applied, and engineering sciences. Papers published by the journal aim to represent important advances of significance to specialists within each field.

The crystal phase structure of cathode material plays an important role in the cell performance. During cycling, the cathode material experiences immense stress due to phase transformation, resulting in capacity degradation. The study shows phase-engineered VO2 as an improved potassium-ion battery cathode; specifically, the amorphous VO2 exhibits superior K storage ability. In contrast to other crystal phases, amorphous VO2 exhibits alleviated volume variation and improved electrochemical performance. This work illustrates the effectiveness and superiority of phase engineering and provides meaningful insights into material optimization for rechargeable batteries.

According to Dr. Cha,  the microstructure of the samples was identified by STEM (Thermo Scientific Talos F200X) of EMC by Si Zhixiang, the EMC engineer; and Dr. Cha conducted the analysis. In this process, EMS is a “gatekeeper” to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the experimental results.

Text/Photos: GTIIT News & Public Affairs, Nature Communications