Rahman, Md MokhlesurHou, ChunpingMateti, SrikanthTanwar, KhageshSultana, IrinGlushenkov, AlexeyChen, Ying2024-05-170378-7753http://hdl.handle.net/1885/317578Graphite is the most promising anode material for potassium-ion batteries due to the attractive theoretical capacity of 278 mAh g−1 and its low potential operation with respect to a potassium reference electrode. However, it is reported that its practically achievable capacities and cyclic stabilities are often relatively poor, which may impact the practical application of graphite in this new type of batteries. The recent results indicate that mechanical milling can be a possible modification method for graphitic materials to improve their electrochemical behaviors. In this work, we document the effects of liquid-phase ball milling conducted under low-energy conditions on the capacity levels and cyclic stability of the commercially available synthetic graphite. The obtained thin graphite flakes with high surface area lead to a much improved electrochemical performance of the electrodes with high reversible capacity of 227 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles at 100 mA g−1 (capacity decay as slow as 0.0043% per cycle and a capacity retention of ~98%) and de-potassiation capacity of 226 mAh g−1 at 4 A g−1 current. This study demonstrates the possibility of capacity and cyclic stability enhancement in graphitic materials by mechanical milling under appropriately selected milling conditions.The work was supported by a grant from Australian Research Council under the Linkage project (LP170100784) and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Deakin University. Deakin University’s Advanced Characterisation Facilities are also acknowledged. The first principle calculations were undertaken with the assistance of resources provided by the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) facility at the Australian National University; allocated through both the National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme supported by the Australian Government and the Australian Research Council grant LE160100051 (Maintaining and enhancing merit-based access to the NCI National Facility, 2016–2018)application/pdfen-AU© 2020 Elsevier B.V.Thin graphite flakesCarbon electrodesLiquid-phase ball millingDelaminationPotassium-ion batteries202010.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.2287332023-01-22