Large‐Scaled Polyacetylene Batteries

Abstract

Polyacetylene, (CH) /SUB x/ film is the simplest conjugated polymer consisting of parallel chains of CH groups. It has recently been of considerable interest as the electrode active material of secondary batteries, with many superior features: (it contains an interwoven network of ca. 200A (CH) /SUB x/ fibrils; (the electrical conductivity of (CH) /SUB x/ films can be varied over 12 orders of magnitude from insulator to metal when suitably doped with donor or acceptor species; it is very stable chemically; there are other attractive features. This battery promises to be lighter and has higher power and energy densities as compared to conventional batteries such as lead-acid batteries. This paper describes the charge-discharge characteristics of large-scaled polyacetylene secondary batteries with electrode areas of 20 about 54 cm/sup 2/. The cis-(CH) /SUB x/ films were polymerized by the Shirakawa technique. Care was taken to achieve pure (CH) /SUB x/ starting material through extensive washing to remove all catalyst, with subsequent storage and handling in inert atmosphere to minimize oxygen content.