A low cost, all-organic Na-ion Battery Based on Polymeric Cathode and Anode

TLDR

Current battery systems face severe cost and resource constraints, limiting large‑scale electric storage. The authors aim to develop a low‑cost, all‑organic Na‑ion battery that omits transition metals. They achieve this by using p‑doped polytriphenylamine as cathode and n‑type poly(anthraquinonyl sulphide) as anode. The battery delivers 1.8 V, 92 Wh kg⁻¹, retains 85 % capacity after 500 cycles at 8 C, releases 60 % capacity at 16 C, and is made from renewable, earth‑abundant materials.

Abstract

Current battery systems have severe cost and resource restrictions, difficultly to meet the large scale electric storage applications. Herein, we report an all-organic Na-ion battery using p-dopable polytriphenylamine as cathode and n-type redox-active poly(anthraquinonyl sulphide) as anode, excluding the use of transition-metals as in conventional electrochemical batteries. Such a Na-ion battery can work well with a voltage output of 1.8 V and realize a considerable specific energy of 92 Wh kg(-1). Due to the structural flexibility and stability of the redox-active polymers, this battery has a superior rate capability with 60% capacity released at a very high rate of 16 C (3200 mA g(-1)) and also exhibit an excellent cycling stability with 85% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 8 C rate. Most significantly, this type of all-organic batteries could be made from renewable and earth-abundant materials, thus offering a new possibility for widespread energy storage applications.