A Dithiin-Linked Covalent Organic Polymer for Ultrahigh Capacity Half-Cell and Symmetric Full-Cell Sodium-Ion Batteries

Adv Sci (Weinh). 2023 Nov;10(32):e2304497. doi: 10.1002/advs.202304497. Epub 2023 Sep 25.

Abstract

Sodium ion-batteries (SIBs) are considered as a class of promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to overcome their drawbacks of limited sources and safety problems. However, the lack of high-performance electrode materials hinders the wide-range commercialization of SIBs. Comparing to inorganic counterparts, organic electrode materials, which are benefitted from flexibly designable structures, low cost, environmental friendliness, and high theoretical gravimetric capacities, should be a prior choice. Here, a covalent organic polymer (COP) based material (denoted as CityU-9) is designed and synthesized by integrating multiple redox motifs (benzoquinone and thioether), improved conductivity (sulfur induction), and intrinsic insolubility (rigid skeleton). The half-cell SIBs exhibit ultrahigh specific capacity of 1009 mAh g-1 and nearly no capacity drop after 650 cycles. The first all-COP symmetric full-cell shows high specific capacity of 90 mAh g-1 and excellent rate capability. This work can extend the selection of redox-active moieties and provide a rational design strategy of high-performance novel organic electrode materials.

Keywords: Na-ion batteries; Na-ion storage mechanism; covalent organic polymers; dithiin linkage; organic electrodes; symmetric full-cells.