Recent advances in tin-based anode materials for potassium-ion batteries

Potassium ion batteries (PIBs) are the research focus of energy storage devices. Potassium is abundant and cheap compared with lithium used in lithium ion batteries (LIBs), and the energy storage mechanism of PIBs is similar to LIBs, making PIBs become the main substitutes for LIBs. PIBs has shown many advantages, including low cost and high operating voltage, and have significant potential for large-scale energy storage. Tin-based materials have been widely studied in PIBs, including tin-based composites, tin-based chalcogenides, tin-based phosphides, etc. Based on this, this work focuses on the research progress in the advantages, disadvantages, synthesis methods, electrochemical mechanism, structural characteristics, electrochemical performance and potassium storage mechanism of tin-based anode materials, and reveals the relationship between structure and electrochemical performance of tin-based anode materials. At the same time, this article reviews important methods to improve the electrochemical performance of PIBs, and systematically summarizes the current modification strategies to improve the potassium storage performance of tin-based anodes. Finally, this article also summarized the disadvantages and challenges of tin-based anode materials used in PIBs, and proposed some feasible solutions to remedy the defects, providing assistance for the development of high-efficiency batteries in the future. •The application of tin based negative electrodes in potassium ion batteries has enormous potential for large-scale energy storage.•Structural changes can be alleviated by reasonably adjusting the structure and morphology of materials.•Reducing particle diameter or doping with heteroatoms can improve kinetics.