A Recyclable and Scalable High-Capacity Organic Battery

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Jul 3;62(27):e202302539. doi: 10.1002/anie.202302539. Epub 2023 Apr 20.

Abstract

Redox organic electrode materials (OEMs) have attracted extensive attention for batteries due to the possibility to be designed with high performance. However, the practical application of OEMs requires rigor criteria such as low cost, recyclability, scalability and high performance etc. and hence seems still far away. Here, we demonstrate an OEM for high performance aqueous organic batteries. Quantification of the charge storage confirmed the storage of protons with fast reaction kinetics, thereby enabling the high performance at high mass loading. As a result, the laminated pouch cells delivered Ampere-hour-scale capacity with excellent cycling performance. Benefited from the small molecular nature and the stable both charged and discharged states, the electrodes can be recycled at any states of charge with high yields (more than 90 %). This work provides a substantial step in the practical applications of OEMs for the future sustainable batteries.

Keywords: Azobenzene; Organic batteries; Organic zinc-ion batteries; Recyclability; Scalable application.